Seventeen items from 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey goaltender Jim Craig are now on the auction block.
Leland’s launched the auction Tuesday after putting the items up for sale through Craig during last year’s Nationa
l Sports Collectors Convention.
Craig’s gold medal is the crown jewel of the collection and carries a pre-sale estimate of $1.5 to $2 million. A $100,000 bid was placed within hours of the auction’s opening on Tuesday morning.
The items were offered for $5.7 million as a buyer takes all proposition last summer but a buyer was not found. Individual, they may sell for more.
Craig isn’t the first member of the “Miracle on Ice” team that beat the heavily favored Soviets at Lake Placid to sell their gold medals. Mark Wells’ medal brought $310,700 in 2010 while in May 2014, Mark Pavelich’s medal sold for $262,900.
As the goalie who stopped 36 of 39 shots by the USSR in Team USA’s 4-3 win, Craig gained international fame. He was also in goal in the gold medal game against Finland.
The collection of items also includes the jersey Craig wore against the Soviets and the American flag that was draped over his shoulders afterward. Both are expected to sell for seven figure prices. Other items being offered are Craig’s gold medal game jersey, his mask, stick, skates and uniforms and other team-issued items from the 1980 Games.
Craig says he’s selling the medal and other it
ems because of the difficulty in splitting them up among family members and to “ensure a healthy financial future for my children and grandchildren.” He also plans to donate some of the proceeds to non-profit groups and charitable causes “near and dear to my heart.”]
The “Miracle Auction” also includes the original rink boards from the arena where the 1980 Olympics were held, a 1937 Carl Hubbell New York Giants game-worn uniform, a 1939 Lou Gehrig National Baseball Hall of Fame bronze plaque, a 1908 Jack Pfiester Chicago Cubs World Champions pin, a Secretariat 1973 Marlboro Cup winner’s blanket and items from the career of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.
The auction ends June 17.
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