Image: Golden Auctions

This offered hockey stick is an artifact that dates to the mid-to-late 19th century, having been narrowed to the timeframe circa 1850s to 1870s and is possibly the oldest known hockey stick in existence. And you can own it if you are the highest bidder. But be forewarned, a similar stick was recently sold for $2.2 million in 2018.

For reference, a stick referred to as “The Rutherford Stick” reportedly sold in 2018 for 2.2 million dollars and that stick was dated to 1852-1856 and was reportedly donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada for display.

With the first recorded hockey game being played in Montreal in 1875, this stick dates as much as 25 years prior that game. About 30 years before the first game in Montreal, it was well known that the New England states were playing some form of hockey or “hawkey” (the word that originated from England).

The stick is owned by Gary and Germaine Morse and has been known in hockey circles as the “Morse Stick”. According to the Morse’s, this stick was given to them by Germaine’s brother Anthony Bean. Bean had found the stick sometime after purchasing his grandmother’s house in 1980 located in Northfield, Vermont.

Having lived in Vermont for most of her life, Bean’s grandmother’s house held many personal belongings that had been collected over the years. This stick was discovered in the house and offered to Gary and Germaine.

For decades, Germaine and Gary Morse kept the stick in an umbrella stand by the entryway in their Vermont home. The heirloom was little more than an afterthought, sitting in an old crock the Morses use as an umbrella stand, until about six years ago. That’s when Germaine saw something online about a circa 1850s hockey stick owned by Gordon Sharpe. Known as the “Rutherford Stick,” it looked awfully similar to Germaine’s own — and had been appraised at $4.5 million.

They ultimately became curious about the stick and through research and online images, came across an article about Gordon Sharpe’s famous stick (The Rutherford Stick) that also included a photograph that looked very familiar to the “Morse” stick.

Maybe Ovi will want to add this to his impressive collection.

You can view the item on the auction page here.