The Museum now has a catalogued collection of hockey stamps that are mounted in five volumes. Over 250 stamps featuring the sport of field hockey have been issued by 115 countries since the first hockey stamp was issued by Japan on 27 October 1951 on the occasion of the 6th National Athletic meeting at Hiroshima.
The Hockey Museum collection covers issues from all around the world and is probably about 95% complete. The stamps in the collection might be mint (unused), postally used, or First Day Cover with the envelope itself often depicting a hockey theme. There are also, if available, a number of other variations such as postcards, special hockey postmarks, miniature sheets etc.
Apart from postage stamps, there are a large number of associated philatelic items, of which we only have a few. During the early part of the 20th century a number of countries, mainly in Europe, produced so-called 'Cinderella' stamps for promoting aspects of sport such as sports clothing and equipment and sports clubs as well as to promote sporting events such as The Olympics and other major tournaments. These 'stamps' were not to pay postage, but for putting on envelopes, letters, invoices etc. for publicity. There were also illustrated postcards and airmail letter paper which are all very collectible.
The collection has a number of gaps so are always looking for new material. Our biggest need is probably for ‘postally used’ stamps. We are interested in any stamps or other philatelic items that you would be willing to donate to the Museum as we often need to produce special displays for tournaments, shows and the like and require duplicates to avoid taking out and then replacing items from our reference collection. With your help our collection will continue to expand.
If you are interested in the Museum’s stamp collection or have any items that you would like to donate, please contact the Museum using the contact form.
Three of The Hockey Museum’s Trustees, Dil Bahra, Mike Smith and David Wareham, also have their own comprehensive collections. Dil Bahra’s collection can be seen on his website: www.hockeyonstamps.com.
