An established Rhode Island professional, Peter Bria provides systems engineering support that employs leading edge technologies. A longtime ice hockey player and coach, Peter Bria is also an avid sports memorabilia collector.
A recent Goldin Auctions online auction witnessed the sale of a gold medal from the American team’s “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union ice hockey team at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. At this event, a US team made up largely of amateur players defeated a Soviet squad composed mostly of professionals.
Steve Christoff’s medal was the third ever placed on auction and achieved a winning bid of $319,800, with the auction taking place on the 40th anniversary of the victory. This surpassed the $310,700 garnered by Mark Wells’ medal in 2010 and $262,900 obtained from the sale of Mark Pavelich’s medal in 2014. The recent auction was the second time that Steve Christoff’s medal had been placed on the auction block, with a 2017 auction failing to hit the $250,000 reserve price.
Also auctioned was the jersey Christoff wore during America’s final match of the Olympics against Finland, which earned the US team the gold medal. During that game, Christoff had an assist and goal that propelled the team to a 4-2 victory. The jersey brought in $116,850, which was significantly less than the $325,000 it had achieved at auction previously.
Peter Bria 