For most of my life I have been an amateur treasure hunter as I have discussed several times. A couple days ago I even shared another gold nugget I have in the stack! Prospecting for gold is a lot of work but it's also a lot of fun, and provides a great day in the outdoors. Pretty much any gold or silver product pertaining to prospecting tends to catch my eye.
Today I ran across this new gold coin produced by the Australian government that caught my attention for just that reason. It's dedicated to a giant gold nugget that was found on the continent back in the 1800's. Not just any gold nugget, but the largest one ever found on the planet, it was known as the Welcome Stranger Nugget.
In 1986 the original tribute gold coin was produced to the nugget and this being the 40th anniversary, a new coin was created for the event. Have a look:
Numista.com
This coin is one quarter Troy ounce of pure gold with a strict production limit of 605 coins. They will be pretty uncommon, but they come at a steep asking price of $2,103. That's over $800 over the gold value of the coin itself, a pretty steep premium in my opinion, even for a collectible. It commemorates the original coin released in 1986, here's one below:
free-bullion-investment-guide.com
I kind of prefer the original design personally! These run just over $5,600 which is much more reasonable in my opinion!
flickr.com
The largest gold nugget ever found in Australia or the world for that matter, was found in February of 1869 near Dunolly, Australia. Two prospectors who had been just barely surviving for years discovered the find of a lifetime, a giant gold nugget only three centimeters below the surface. It weighed in at 72 kilograms (193 lbs.) It was so large that there wasn't a scale large enough to weight it so it had to be broken into three pieces to get it's proper measurements.
Sadly, this nugget was melted down, but netted 2,302 Troy ounces of gold. At today's prices that would be worth $11,970,000, however, if the nugget were intact it would sell for multiples higher as the largest in the world. Plus the rich history would add to it's price. But in those days the big nuggets were commonly melted down...
And an original wood carving of the nugget itself, it's the only reason we have any real idea the size and shape of the nugget today.
unknown author, found on Wikipedia.org
The replica was likely fashioned from this original drawing, such a shame the nugget was melted...
The third largest gold nugget found in Australia that is fortunately still intact is the Hand of Faith. It's conveniently on display at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Found in 1980, this monster weighs in at 875 Troy ounces. That makes it worth $5,200,000 in gold alone, but the nugget is worth far more for historic and collectible reasons. However, it isn't for sale and likely never will be anytime in the near future!
flickr.com
Isn't that gorgeous? I wish I could find one like that!
Huge gold nuggets like these exist around the world and are still out there just waiting to be found. There have been many found here in California, many in Australia, and even Brazil. There are still many out there, and maybe you will be the lucky finder of one of these. I have searched for years, but never found one, but maybe you will be more lucky!
I hope you enjoyed the coin today, it's a nice one but with gold prices at the moment outside of my spending range. Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below, and thank you for all of your support. It's greatly appreciated! Have a great Wednesday everyone!
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Stranger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Faith
Disclaimer
I am not a financial planner and this isn't financial advice. Please always do your own research before investing your money. You worked hard enough to earn it!
Gold prospecting and treasure hunting can be dangerous. Never put yourself in a situation that is risky to life or limb, you can't spend the treasure if you're dead.
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