Rice currency - 2 stamps unstamped, catalog no. 8-9, Vietnam

The two stamps are real originals. They appeared in 1955 as remnants of the second and third postage stamps from North Vietnam and were changed to "rice currency" with a black print. They show the portrait of President Ho Chi Minh and were made in simple letterpress with handcrafted plates on handcrafted gray-brown fiber paper. The imprint "O K 100 THOC" means "0.100 kilograms of rice" as currency, which means that the equivalent of 200 grams of rice had to be paid for these two stamps at the time. Catalog number: 8-9

As unbelievable as it may sound - but they actually existed - real postage stamps whose face value is not in money in the respective national currency, but in rice was specified. This is what happened in the former North Vietnam in the years 1953-1955. You have to know that "unshelled" rice was the most important food for the population in North Vietnam at the time and was therefore the basis for calculating all public expenditure and income for several years. Against this background, the currency of the official stamps was changed to "rice currency".