LOT #5290 |
Sold on Jun 3, 2011 for: Not Sold
82.4-Ounce Gold Nugget from Australia....
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Description
Impressive 82.4-Ounce Gold Nugget
Australian, High Purity, Great Display Piece
82.4-Ounce Gold Nugget from Australia. Australia has seen
numerous gold rushes in its history, mostly in the latter half of
the 19th century and just after nationhood in 1901. Notable strikes
occurred in the states of Victoria and New South Wales, both in the
southeast of the country, and later in the more isolated state of
Western Australia. Many stories are told of early miners picking
gold nuggets off the ground, or finding them under just a few
inches of soil. In fact, the largest alluvial gold nugget ever
found, the "Welcome Stranger," was buried just two inches deep at
the time of its discovery.The time of easy gold and the large nugget passed for Australia's miners, and the decades wore on. Yet this nugget stayed hidden in the ground, waiting to be found. It was uncovered by utter chance when a heavy rainstorm washed away the soil around it and left part of the nugget exposed. Its discoverer tripped over it while walking down a dirt road -- literally stumbling across the long-buried treasure.
The nugget weighs in at 82.4 troy ounces (1648 pennyweights, metric mass approximately 2.55 kilograms). When turned the right way, its shape suggests the continent of Australia, a fitting tribute to its origin. Like many nuggets, this example is not pure gold -- one can see a handful of white quartz crystals, angular things embedded in the curves of gold -- but a surface spectral analysis gave a reading of 91.6% purity or 916 fineness, a figure that past experience tells us may be on the low side.
Assuming the 916 fineness as a baseline, this nugget contains nearly 75.5 troy ounces of pure gold. As a display piece, of course, it holds more value than its mere metal content. The phrase "museum-quality specimen" is bandied about perhaps too casually, but it is absolutely appropriate here.
From The Virginia Beach Collection.
View all of [The Virginia Beach Collection ]
Auction Info
2011 June Long Beach Signature US Coin Auction #1156 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2011
2nd-5th
Thursday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 18
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 11,619
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
15% of the successful bid per lot.
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