Now that's impressive.
There MUST be a remarkable backstory. A precious gift from a dead wife that the owner refused to give up on; a "lucky charm" pipe the owner was profoundly superstitious about; someone so desperately poor that cobbling it back together himself made more sense than buying another pipe, no matter how inexpensive; some sort of pub bet along the lines of, "Now, THAT will never see another bowl of tobacco!" after the pipe was accidentally driven over by a car or stepped on by a horse. Etc.
Colorful history in the palm of your hand...
But you'll never know quite what it is.