In July, a large nugget was discovered in the foothills of Butte County on public land, initially mistaken for an “old pipe” or “big piece of trash” due to its loud sound on the metal detector. Dubbed the “Butte Nugget,” the lucky prospector who found it has opted to stay anonymous.
Surprisingly, the worn-out gold nugget (visible in the images above and below) was found in a location that had been mined during the original Gold Rush of the mid-1800s. It is worth noting that the biggest gold nugget found during the 19th century Gold Rush era was said to be a 54-pound piece discovered in Butte County, California, in 1859.
Kagin’s Inc., a company specializing in rare coins and collectibles located in Tiburon, California, was chosen as the official vendor for the Butte Nugget. Not long after unveiling the impressive specimen at the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show, the firm quickly shared the exciting news that the nugget had found a new home with a well-known collector from the San Francisco Bay Area for a price tag of around $400,000.
Kagin’s previously predicted that the sale price would range from $350,000 to $450,000. As of today, the nugget holds a precious metal value of $119,554 based on current spot gold prices.
“I never expected to see a California nugget as massive as this in my lifetime,” expressed David McCarthy, a senior numismatist at Kagin. “Gems like these are truly rare finds that don’t happen often.”
Even though it’s not the biggest nugget out there, the Butte Nugget is still quite impressive as the second-largest California nugget known to man. It’s only about half the size of the Mojave Nugget, discovered by Ty Paulsen near Randsburg, Calif., back in 1977. This hefty 156-ounce nugget was also uncovered with the help of a metal detector, eventually finding its way to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Back in 1869, some Australian prospectors hit the jackpot when they stumbled upon the biggest gold nugget ever found, which they fittingly named “Welcome Stranger.” This bad boy weighed a whopping 158.78 pounds and was unearthed at just one inch underground in Victoria.
The gold nugget was humongous, measuring 24 inches in width and so heavy that the scales of that era couldn’t weigh it properly. To solve this problem, the miners broke it into three smaller pieces to measure its weight. Finally, the renowned nugget was melted into ingots and transported to England.
