A national treasure is a tangible cultural heritage or object handed down from the past with historical, cultural or scientific value of exceptional significance to the country of Vietnam.
National treasures are deemed to be protected and preserved according to a special scheme by the Vietnamese Government. The government earmarks an adequate proportion of the State budget to purchase national treasures as well as invest in activities protecting and promoting the values of these objects. The title national treasure is recognized by a decision from the Vietnamese Prime Minister after obtaining evaluations from the National Council for Cultural Heritages.
To promoting the value of national treasures to the public at home and abroad, the Ministry of Information and Communications has decided to issue a series of stamps on the topic of Vietnam's national treasures.
The 2nd stamp set "Vietnam National Treasure: Gold Items" was designed by artist Nguyen Du from the Vietnam Post Corporation, with a size of 37 x 37 mm, including 4 samples featuring the “Sac Menh Chi Bao” gold seal of Emperor (made in the 8th year of Minh Menh - 1827); "Dai Viet Quoc Nguyen Chua Vinh Tran Chi Bao” seal (5th year of Vinh Thinh - 1709); Ngoa Van - Yen Tu golden box (the XIV century - Tran dynasty); and the Thap Nhan box containing Buddhist relics - Śarīra (the VII-VIII centuries).
The face prices of the four stamps are VND4,000, VND4,000, VND6,000 and VND12,000 respectively. The stamp set is available on the postal network until June 30, 2023.
Pictures of the above national treasures were provided by the National Museum of History, Quang Ninh Museum and Nghe An Museum and allowed to be used for introduction on postage stamps.
In 2018 the Ministry of Information and Communications issued the first set of stamps on national treasures entitled "Vietnam National Treasure: Bronze items". These stamps were designed by artist Tran The Vinh, including four stamps featuring the brass belt buckle (on display at the Hung Kings’ Temple historic site in Viet Tri city, Phu Tho province); Hop Minh bronze jar (on display at Yen Bai Provincial Museum); the short sword found at Nua Mount (on display at the Thanh Hoa Provincial Museum); and the bronze lamp in the shape of a kneeling man (on display at the National Museum of History).
As originally planned, the second stamp set on Vietnam’s national treasures would feature ceramic items and be released on March 5, 2020. However, the Ministry of Information and Communications already released a set of stamps on "Oc Eo Culture" in 2020, which featured similar ceramic items, so the Ministry of Information and Communications decided to change from ceramic to gold items.
To diversify stamp products to serve stamp collectors, the Vietnam Post Corporation issued a set of premium stamps, which also includes the four stamps above but with a size of 75 x 105 mm. This product sold out on the day of issuance, July 31, a representative of the Postage Stamp Company told VietNamNet.
