Lot# 9054

written 26 October 1953 at Kaesong, North Korea, and addressed to Vratislavice nad Nisou, this postcard was franked with three stamps, totaling 7,000 yuan (an overpayment of 300 yuan) by the sender. When the card reached the CPV Military Post Office at Antung, the office’s datestamp (contrary to regulations) had to be handstamped on the pair of stamps affixed on the postcard’s front, due to limited available space. Upon arrival in Peking, all stamps were properly cancelled by the No. 6 Peking Sub-Post Office at Changan Avenue West, a designated office for handling Korean Armistice Commission mail, before being forwarded by air via Moscow to Czechoslovakia. Under the 7th Postal Tariff Period, the correct rate for an airmail postcard to Eastern Europe was 6,700 yuan (surface postcard 1,300 yuan + airmail fee per 10g 5,400 yuan), making this slightly overpaid. This cover provides an exceptional example of CPV–PRC postal cooperation during the post-Armistice period, illustrating the routing and handling of diplomatic correspondence between North Korea, China, and Eastern Europe, with the distinctive Antung CPV M.P.O. handstamp and subsequent Peking cancellation both clearly evident.