Rare winner’s medal in ice hockey from the Squaw Valley 1960 Winter Olympics. Sterling silver, 55 mm, 104 gm, by Herff Jones, Indiana. The front features the heads of male and female athletes in profile, with bold block-letter text, “VII Olympic, Winter Games”; the reverse features the Olympic rings under Olympic motto of “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” with the sport below: "Hockey Sur Glace." Stamped "H. J. Co." and "Sterling" on the edge. This was the first Winter Olympic medal to feature the name of the sport.
Led by Fred Etcher, Bob Attersley, and future Hall of Famer Harry Sinden, Team Canada took home the second-place silver at Squaw Valley's 1960 Olympic hockey tournament, which also served as that year's International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) championship. Their sole loss in the campaign came against the United States—a stunning underdog victory sometimes called the 'First Miracle on Ice.' Canada, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden were all favored to win the competition, but the unheralded team of American amateurs from the college ranks stood at the top of the podium when it was all over. A scarce and desirable medal from a historic tournament.
