Mighty big nugget in Sacramento
Halfsense
Posts: 600 ✭✭✭
That nearly 100-ounce chunk of gold discovered near Washington, California last year -- and appropriately named, The Washington Nugget -- is attracting gawkers and photographers at the ANA National Money Show in Sacramento. It sold for $460,000 (including buyer's premium) Wednesday afternoon, March16, 2011, in a Holabird-Kagin Americana auction, and now is on public display at the three-day ANA convention in the eye-opening Museum Showcase area of the bourse floor.
Here's a photo of Fred Holabird holding the nugget prior to calling bids at the auction.
Fred Holabird holding the "Washington Nugget." (Photo by Donn Pearlman. All rights reserved.)
-donn-
Here's a photo of Fred Holabird holding the nugget prior to calling bids at the auction.
Fred Holabird holding the "Washington Nugget." (Photo by Donn Pearlman. All rights reserved.)
-donn-
"If it happens in numismatics, it's news to me....
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The Penny Lady®
The name is LEE!
they showed it off on the news and in two days the local police wrote over two hundred tickets for trespassing.
The funny part was he lied about where he found it by some 20 miles.
<< <i>to me, it does not look like a natural nugget. It looks like melted and recast gold- just me gold and pour on ground. >>
I always wondered about that. How hard would it be to make a nugget? One could just melt some scrap gold and pour it into a bucket of water to get a blob of gold.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
A lenghty description of the nugget, and how fortunate it was that the anonymous person who found it (with a metal detector on his property) didn't clean it, can be found online. It is lot #2574, and here's a link to a PDF of that portion of the auction. (Scroll down to page 282.)
PDF of Washington Nugget et al portion of Holabird-Kagin Americana March 16, 2011 auction
-donn-
-donn-
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During the mad, mid-1800s scramble for gold in the Sierra foothills, Washington - located about 10 miles northeast of Nevada City - was a bustling treasure hunters' town of 3,000.
Dozens of huge nuggets were found all over the mountain range during those halcyon days, the biggest being the 54-pound Magalia Nugget, scratched up in Butte County in 1859.
<< <i>That nearly 100-ounce chunk of gold discovered near Washington, California last year -- and appropriately named, The Washington Nugget -- is attracting gawkers and photographers at the ANA National Money Show in Sacramento. It sold for $460,000 (including buyer's premium) Wednesday afternoon, March16, 2011, in a Holabird-Kagin Americana auction, and now is on public display at the three-day ANA convention in the eye-opening Museum Showcase area of the bourse floor.
Here's a photo of Fred Holabird holding the nugget prior to calling bids at the auction.
Fred Holabird holding the "Washington Nugget." (Photo by Donn Pearlman. All rights reserved.) -donn- >>
**************JUNE 5 2011****************************
NEWS FLASH!! A local Sacramento TV station (KXYV-10 ) just ran a follow up story on this nugget AND THE ORIGIN OF ITS FINDINGS IS BEING CALLED INTO SERIOUS QUESTIONS. Seams there is chance that it was really discovered in Australia years ago. Even Holabird, as interviewed on the news, is beginning to have his doubts as to the whole auction story. The nugget does appear to compare to photos of a nugget found years ago. He vows to look 100% into the mater.
I thougt it sounded fishy from the beginning.
for this 98 oz. nugget. Apparently there is a huge premium for gold in nugget form, sold for 3.37
times, it's melt value. How does one determine the purity? Are there other elements in the nugget?
What is the reddish material seen in the photo? When out hiking I visit a couple streams,
dreaming of finding a nugget in the stream bed, no such luck.
<<I always wondered about that. How hard would it be to make a nugget? One could just melt some scrap gold and pour it into a bucket of water to get a blob of gold. >>
I was thinkin the same, have 25 oz., all I need is a way to turn it into liquid, and a good story.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
It's still a neat nugget but probably not worth what the buyer paid for it since Aussie nuggets are relatively more common. I wonder if the buyer will get a refund and the nugget will be auctioned again with its true attribution.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>The plot thickens.
It's still a neat nugget but probably not worth what the buyer paid for it since Aussie nuggets are relatively more common. I wonder if the buyer will get a refund and the nugget will be auctioned again with its true attribution. >>
Wow.
The name is LEE!
<< <i>The plot thickens.
It's still a neat nugget but probably not worth what the buyer paid for it since Aussie nuggets are relatively more common. I wonder if the buyer will get a refund and the nugget will be auctioned again with its true attribution. >>
Clearly, a piece of Australian history was purchased, not a piece of Californian history and that is what the buyer thought he was getting. I would imagine this transaction will be reversed.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.