Wellington: A Winton, central Southland, man named Dennis Hamilton has a collection of 50,000 different pens, it has been reported.

The 51-year-old man, who discovered his love for pens when his father gave him his first pen, has been collecting pens since the age of five but his pen collecting passion really took off about 25 years ago, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Hamilton's collection comes in all different shapes and sizes from the humble ballpoint pen to the obscure shaped and themed pens, some even camouflaged as everyday objects like a tube of lip gloss. His carved lion pen was his personal favourite.

Hamilton said he had looked up the Guinness Book of Records and not found a record for the most pens collected, but it was a title he hoped to claim one day