Lot# 9052

following the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953, mail from the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) delegates of socialist countries, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union, was handled and forwarded free of charge by the Chinese People’s Volunteers Military Post Office (CPV M.P.O.). This cover was sent by a Czechoslovak delegate of the Armistice Commission on 22 September 1953 from North Korea to Prague by airmail. It bears four R series issues, totaling 7,600 yuan (RMB), representing the correct rate for airmail to Eastern Europe, cancelled at the No. 5 Peking Sub-Office (West Dongdan) with a “Peking 53.9.30” cds. The reverse shows a Chinese People’s Volunteers military postmark “Chinese Military Post 1953.9.22”, bearing the code “89129”, which served as a distinguishing transit marking of mail processed through Antung (now Dandong). This letter was sent during the 7th Postal Tariff Period (1 May 1953 - 31 December 1954). The correct airmail rate to Eastern Europe was 7,600 yuan, comprising 2,200 yuan for the first 20 grams international surface letter postage plus 5,400 yuan for each 10 grams airmail surcharge. The postage was accurately paid, and the routing from North Korea via Antung and Peking, then through Moscow to Prague, complied with the postal arrangement requiring socialist-country delegates’ mail to be relayed through China after the Armistice. This is a rare genuine postal example of mail from a Korean War Armistice Commission delegate. With accurate postage, clear and complete markings, it illustrates the diplomatic nature of such correspondence and demonstrates China’s intermediary postal role in post-war international communications. It also highlights the operational collaboration between the People’s Post of China and the Chinese People’s Volunteers Postal Service. An exceptional postal history item of great importance for the study of early PRC diplomatic mail, post-war postal network reconstruction, and socialist international postal cooperation, possessing significant research and exhibition value.