Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
That's unusual, of course, but rice was certainly a valuable commodity in Vietnam in 1954, especially in North Vietnam, which had much less agricultural land than South Vietnam and had been divided politically by the Geneva Conference as a result of the communist victory at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The North Vietnamese had had experienced famine nine years before, in 1945. The disruption of the Vietnamese economy by the Japanese occupation and inept French administration, as well as droughts and floods, resulted in the death by starvation of hundreds of thousands to millions of people (estimates range from 400,000 deaths to 2 million).
Two questions about this stamp come to mind:
• What explanation, if any, is there for the odd way the denomination is expressed: "0.KILO 600," which surely means .6 k (1.3 lbs)?
• Is anyone aware of other stamps which are denominated in commodities rather than currency?
The stamp shows a communist soldier standing atop the command post of the French commander, General De Castry. Three other regular postage stamps of the same design were issued; both perforate and imperforate versions are available. They are very hard to find, and expensive, in genuine used condition; this copy is a CTO.
Bob
Login to Like
this post
12:01:32am
Maybe it refers to 0.6 kg of C-4 applied to that very spot.
Rice is "baogao" or something like that.
Login to Like
this post
It is an official stamp from 1956 (Mi. #5A) with as the used currency "kilograms of rice". Michel writes that during the war unhulled rice became the unofficial state currency, hence the mention on the official stamps.
Login to Like
this post
Just wondering if this stamp is printed on rice paper......
Login to Like
this post
There are also the famous "Potato" stamps of Tristan da Cuna:
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
@2010ccg:
Nope, it's not rice paper. It is quite a soft paper, however, softer than the three regular postage stamps of the same design. A "finger-flip" test returns a distinctinctly lower note than the same test on the three other stamps. Wish I had a micrometer!
@Jansimon:
Thanks for the information from Michel. Scott notes that the set of "Harvesting Rice" official stamps issued in 1952 and the Dien Bien Phu commemorative of 1954-56 are denominated in grams or kilograms of rice.
@cdj1122:
Nice try, but C-4 was developed until 1956, two years after Dien Bien Phu. I used C-4 in Vietnam, not for it's explosive properties but for its incendiary properties. A chunk the size of the end of your thumb would boil a Campbell-soup-size can of water in about three seconds flat, and turn the lower third of the can red hot in the process. I once heated — or tried to heat — a can of hot chocolate with C-4; some of the powder in the bottom of the can didn't get mixed and it turned to chocolate power charcoal almost instantly. It may be apocryphal, but I've read that some soldiers, who knew that C-4 would detonate if it was struck hard enough, tried the "party trick" of stomping on a small chunk to see the effect. The effect was that they got their foot blown off!
In any event, the communists apparently didn't destroy De Castry's bunker. Today, it or perhaps a replica of it is a tourist destination.
@Terry:
Potatoes! Interesting. Big potatoes or small potatoes? 
Bob
Login to Like
this post
Hey Terry,
Have you noticed the left hand stamp?
The 'pesky penguin pinches potato' printing error.
Login to Like
this post
The ‘Potato Essays’ of Tristan da Cunha
Reported at http://www.tristandc.com
Allan Crawford first went to Tristan da Cunha in 1937 when he joined the Norwegian Scientific Expedition.
On later visits to the island as a meteorologist he realized there was a demand for stamps from philatelists and passing ships from the so called “loneliest Island in the worldâ€.
He decided to develop and produce a stamp or “sticker†for the islanders to place on the outside of their letters. Together with draftsman Sgt. Jimmy Brown he produced some rough designs.
As they did not have permission to use the King George head, they used the British Union Flag. The islanders also had no money and during WW2 they used potatoes as currency with 4 potatoes equaling 1 old penny (1d) so this currency was added to the designs.
They came up with 9 designs and Allan had 20,000 penny sheets made, each stamp depicted a penguin and its value was 4 potatoes printed in red in sheets of 35 stamps by Hortors Ltd of Johannesburg. The stamp/sticker soon achieved fame as a souvenir from passing ships and collectors throughout the world and was nicknamed the potato stamp.
The 9 designs in black and white were used later in 1946 as part of a petition for stamps for Tristan da Cunha which was submitted to the UK Postmaster General for consideration as a legitimate postage stamp.
The petition for stamps however was refused and it was not until 1952 that overprinted Tristan da Cunha on St Helena definitive stamps were used as the islands first postage stamps.
As not postally valid, this cover from 1948 franked with a potato stamp was assessed a 1-1/2c postage due upon arrival in South Africa.
Login to Like
this post
Here's an example of the 1952/1953 set also issued in kilo of rice:
A crude image of a man planting rice. A crude perforation by way of a sewing machine. Given the context a fascinating stamp.
Login to Like
this post
An official North Vietnam stamp, Scott O5, is denominated in kilograms of rice!
That's unusual, of course, but rice was certainly a valuable commodity in Vietnam in 1954, especially in North Vietnam, which had much less agricultural land than South Vietnam and had been divided politically by the Geneva Conference as a result of the communist victory at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The North Vietnamese had had experienced famine nine years before, in 1945. The disruption of the Vietnamese economy by the Japanese occupation and inept French administration, as well as droughts and floods, resulted in the death by starvation of hundreds of thousands to millions of people (estimates range from 400,000 deaths to 2 million).
Two questions about this stamp come to mind:
• What explanation, if any, is there for the odd way the denomination is expressed: "0.KILO 600," which surely means .6 k (1.3 lbs)?
• Is anyone aware of other stamps which are denominated in commodities rather than currency?
The stamp shows a communist soldier standing atop the command post of the French commander, General De Castry. Three other regular postage stamps of the same design were issued; both perforate and imperforate versions are available. They are very hard to find, and expensive, in genuine used condition; this copy is a CTO.
Bob
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
19 Oct 2015
12:01:32am
re: Unusual stamp denomination
Maybe it refers to 0.6 kg of C-4 applied to that very spot.
Rice is "baogao" or something like that.
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: Unusual stamp denomination
It is an official stamp from 1956 (Mi. #5A) with as the used currency "kilograms of rice". Michel writes that during the war unhulled rice became the unofficial state currency, hence the mention on the official stamps.
Login to Like
this post
10:17:58am
re: Unusual stamp denomination
Just wondering if this stamp is printed on rice paper......
Login to Like
this post
re: Unusual stamp denomination
There are also the famous "Potato" stamps of Tristan da Cuna:
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Unusual stamp denomination
@2010ccg:
Nope, it's not rice paper. It is quite a soft paper, however, softer than the three regular postage stamps of the same design. A "finger-flip" test returns a distinctinctly lower note than the same test on the three other stamps. Wish I had a micrometer!
@Jansimon:
Thanks for the information from Michel. Scott notes that the set of "Harvesting Rice" official stamps issued in 1952 and the Dien Bien Phu commemorative of 1954-56 are denominated in grams or kilograms of rice.
@cdj1122:
Nice try, but C-4 was developed until 1956, two years after Dien Bien Phu. I used C-4 in Vietnam, not for it's explosive properties but for its incendiary properties. A chunk the size of the end of your thumb would boil a Campbell-soup-size can of water in about three seconds flat, and turn the lower third of the can red hot in the process. I once heated — or tried to heat — a can of hot chocolate with C-4; some of the powder in the bottom of the can didn't get mixed and it turned to chocolate power charcoal almost instantly. It may be apocryphal, but I've read that some soldiers, who knew that C-4 would detonate if it was struck hard enough, tried the "party trick" of stomping on a small chunk to see the effect. The effect was that they got their foot blown off!
In any event, the communists apparently didn't destroy De Castry's bunker. Today, it or perhaps a replica of it is a tourist destination.
@Terry:
Potatoes! Interesting. Big potatoes or small potatoes?
Bob
Login to Like
this post
re: Unusual stamp denomination
Hey Terry,
Have you noticed the left hand stamp?
The 'pesky penguin pinches potato' printing error.
Login to Like
this post
re: Unusual stamp denomination
The ‘Potato Essays’ of Tristan da Cunha
Reported at http://www.tristandc.com
Allan Crawford first went to Tristan da Cunha in 1937 when he joined the Norwegian Scientific Expedition.
On later visits to the island as a meteorologist he realized there was a demand for stamps from philatelists and passing ships from the so called “loneliest Island in the worldâ€.
He decided to develop and produce a stamp or “sticker†for the islanders to place on the outside of their letters. Together with draftsman Sgt. Jimmy Brown he produced some rough designs.
As they did not have permission to use the King George head, they used the British Union Flag. The islanders also had no money and during WW2 they used potatoes as currency with 4 potatoes equaling 1 old penny (1d) so this currency was added to the designs.
They came up with 9 designs and Allan had 20,000 penny sheets made, each stamp depicted a penguin and its value was 4 potatoes printed in red in sheets of 35 stamps by Hortors Ltd of Johannesburg. The stamp/sticker soon achieved fame as a souvenir from passing ships and collectors throughout the world and was nicknamed the potato stamp.
The 9 designs in black and white were used later in 1946 as part of a petition for stamps for Tristan da Cunha which was submitted to the UK Postmaster General for consideration as a legitimate postage stamp.
The petition for stamps however was refused and it was not until 1952 that overprinted Tristan da Cunha on St Helena definitive stamps were used as the islands first postage stamps.
As not postally valid, this cover from 1948 franked with a potato stamp was assessed a 1-1/2c postage due upon arrival in South Africa.
Login to Like
this post
re: Unusual stamp denomination
Here's an example of the 1952/1953 set also issued in kilo of rice:
A crude image of a man planting rice. A crude perforation by way of a sewing machine. Given the context a fascinating stamp.
Login to Like
this post