In 1993, the hockey world celebrated the centennial of the first awarding of the championship trophy that would ultimately become known as the Stanley Cup (its original name was the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup). The trophy was donated by Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston, in 1892 with the intent that it be awarded to Canada's national amateur hockey champion.
The first team to receive the trophy was the Montreal Hockey Club of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. They finished the 1893 season atop Canada's Amateur Hockey Association (AHA) standings with a record of 7-1-0. The Montreal club successfully defended "the Cup" in 1894 by besting the Montreal Victorias 3-2 and the Ottawa Generals 3-1 in successive "playoff" games after the regular season ended in a four-team tie.
In 1910, awarding of the Stanley Cup became the purview of the National Hockey Association (NHA), one of Canada's early professional hockey leagues. The NHA is the direct forerunner of the National Hockey League (NHL) which was formed in 1917. The Montreal Canadiens were launched as a member of the NHA.
Until 1926, teams from the top Canadian professional hockey leagues were eligible to compete and challenge for the Cup. Since 1926, however, only member clubs of the NHL are eligible to win the Stanley Cup.
In 1993, the Cup's centennial was celebrated by
Canada Post (CP) and the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) with a commemorative stamp and silver dollar, respectively.
The 43-cent stamp depicts an anonymous modern hockey team hoisting the Stanley Cup in triumph. The coin features a then-and-now design theme with a depiction of an 1893-era hockey player and an early version of the Cup in the background with current (circa 1993) views of a player and the Cup in the foreground; it was designed by Stewart Sherwood. The silver dollar is 36.07 mm in diameter, weighs 25.175 grams and is sterling silver (0.925 fine silver).
Canada Post and the RCM worked together to create a special edition philatelic-numismatic cover (PNC) that was released on the first day of issue for the commemorative $0.43 stamp. The cover features a proof version of the silver dollar inserted into an envelope that features an image of the original cup along with the CP stamp and a special first-day-of-issue postmark. The back of the cover features a brief history of the Stanley Cup.
The PNC originally sold for $28.95 CAD.
Posted 03/25/2020 11:42 pm
