Jim Craig wants to sell 'Miracle' items for $5.7M
Jim Craig’s gold medal and Miracle jersey are among items for sale. (Lelands.com)
The 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team pulled off one of the most iconic victories in the history of sports when it defeated the Soviet Union at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. Without the goaltending performance of Jim Craig, one of the greatest upsets ever never happens.
Now, more than 35 years after the Americans stunned the Soviets and the sporting world, Craig has decided to part with some of his most prized memorabilia from the 1980 Olympics. Craig is selling a large collection of items from his time in Lake Placid through Lelands.com. The asking price for the whole package is $5.7 million.
Among the items in that package, Craig’s Olympic gold medal, the jerseys he wore in the win over the Soviets and the gold-medal clinching game against Finland, the U.S. flag that was draped over Craig after the win over Finland that led to some of the most iconic images from that clinching game. Other items include his goalie mask, skates, pads and the stick he used in the games against the Soviet Union and Finland. There are 19 items in total.
“I’ve decided to sell my ‘Miracle on Ice’ collection so my children and grandchildren will be financially secure in the future,” Craig said in a statement through Lelands. “Additionally, proceeds from the sale will also benefit several charities that are close to my heart. Over the years I’ve loaned my Olympic memorabilia to museums and other venues so it could be accessible to fans to enjoy and it is my hope that whoever purchases this will do the same.”
According to Lelands, Craig’s gold medal has been appraised for $1.5 to $2 million alone, with the authenticated American flag appraised at $1 to $1.5 million. His jersey from the Miracle on Ice game was appraised at $1 to $1.5 million as well.
The collection is being sold all together between Aug. 1 and Nov. 1 of this year and is not being put up for auction, according to Lelands.
Other members of the Miracle on Ice have sold memorabilia in the past as well, as ESPN.com detailed:
Mark Wells sold his gold medal to a private buyer for $40,000. That buyer sold it in 2010 for $310,000. Mark Pavelich’s gold medal sold for $262,900 in 2014.
Captain Mike Eruzione insisted that he would never sell his gold medal, but he sold his jersey from the gold-medal game ($657,250) and the stick he used ($262,900) in 2013.
The family of Herb Brooks also put a number of his Olympic items up for sale and managed to fetch $113,525.
Other comparable auction items include Paul Henderson’s jersey from when he scored the game-winning goal in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviets. His No. 19 sweater sold for $1.275 million in 2010.
It seems to be an awfully ambitious sale price from Craig, especially considering what Eruzione got for his jersey and stick from the game’s most famous moment. That said, the Miracle on Ice means a lot of things to a lot of people and Craig was one of its most important figures.
So if you’re a really big sports fan with an obscene amount of disposable income, this piece of history can be yours.
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