The gold medal presented to a member of the 1980 U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey Team that stunned the Soviet Union in Lake Placid is going back on the auction block.
Goldin Auctions will offer the medal earned by center Steve Christoff in its Winter Auction, scheduled to begin Monday.
The medal was last on the block in 2017 at the now defunct Steiner Auctions but didn’t meet the $250,000 reserve price.
At least two other medals from the “Miracle on Ice” team have sold over the past decade. In 2010, Mark Wells’ medal sold through Heritage Auctions for $310,700 and four years later, the company sold the one presented to Mark Pavelitch for $262,900. Jim Craig and Dave Christian offered their medals in 2016 but neither met a pre-established reserve.
The Olympic medals were created by Tiffany & Co.
Team USA’s win over the USSR at the height of the Cold War remains one of the most memorable moments in American sports but the team of American college players had to rally to defeat Finland to earn their improbable place in history and Christoff played a major role, scoring a goal and assisting on another.
After the Olympics, Christoff joined the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars. He retired in 1984 and later became an airline pilot. He no longer owns the medal.
“It always special when both the history of sports as well as our country is represented in the same piece,” said Ken Goldin, Founder of Goldin Auctions. “I am confident this medal will end up in the hands of someone who appreciates both.”
It’s one of hundreds of items in the auction, which will run through February 22 at GoldinAuctions.com.
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