The 170-year-old prize awarded in the first U.S. intercollegiate sports competition is going up for auction next month.
Sotheby’s estimates the trophy oars from the inaugural Harvard-Yale Regatta will fetch $3-to-$5 million in online bidding May 17-24. Made of black walnut with engraved silver plaques, the oars were presented to the winning Harvard crew on Aug. 3, 1852, 17 years before the first intercollegiate football game and 43 years before the first such basketball game.
