6lb gold nugget goes on sale

By Sky News US Team

The California Gold Rush apparently never quite ended.

What is billed as one of the biggest nuggets found in modern times, unearthed only this summer, is up for sale.

The fist-sized lump of precious metal weighs more than 6lb (2.8kg) and is expected to carry a price tag of $350,000 (£220,000).

The chunk is known as the Butte Nugget, after the Northern California county where a gold hunter says it was found in July.

The owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, said it was mined on public land in a mountain range.

But he asked dealer Don Kagin to keep his name and the exact location of the discovery secret.

David McCarthy, a rare minerals expert, told the San Francisco Chronicle he was escorted blindfolded to the site to check it was genuine.

Mr Kagin said he had taken pains to establish the veracity of this find after he was hoodwinked in 2011 when another nugget purportedly unearthed in Sierra Nevada, California, turned out to have come from Australia.

[news.sky.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2014 03:22PM by diggers.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One of the largest gold nuggets in modern times pulled from Northern California's Gold Country has sold to a secret buyer.

The new owner of the so-called Butte Nugget and its exact price will both remain mysteries at the buyer's request, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/1snahAB ).

But Don Kagin, the Tiburon-based coin dealer who brokered the deal, said that a "prominent Bay Area collector" paid about $400,000 for the nugget weighing 6.07 pounds (2.8 kilograms). That wasn't far off from the asking price, he said.

"Let's just say it's a win-win for everybody, Kagin said, adding that the nugget went up for sale Thursday with the deal finalized on Friday.

Historically, prospectors found giant gold nuggets in California during the 19th century Gold Rush days, including a 54-pound chunk found in Butte County in 1859. It has been decades since a report of anyone discovering a rock of 6 pounds or more in California.

Am I missing something? How is that a win win for everybody? ...

6.07lbs. X 16oz's -- 97.12oz's

97.12oz's X $1,230 (gold price) -- $119,457.60

My equal key doesn't work.

Actually that's not far off the market value. I didn't do the math because I was too lazy and , assuming you're correct , those numbers confirm the long held belief that specimen value nuggets can bring 3 to 4 times their weight .
The buyer /collector with that kind of money doesn't care about the cost , so they win by getting it. The seller is obviously elated as is the agent who gets his cut as well , so all are happy. I have several rare and unique specimens of crystalline gold embedded with garnet and monzonite that I have always valued well above spot price--unfortunately I have never found a collector who agreed with me enough to convince me to sell them.

The next question is are they talking a troy lb or an av. one



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2014 11:08PM by shoveler.

If the're talking troy ounces and and troy lbs, it's even less.

I think it's more like 90 Troy ounces, plus nuggets aren't pure 24 ct, and have inclusions of quartz etc in them, so 'raw melt value' is probably below 100K dollars, but a 4-fold premium over melt seems not unreasonable for such a rare specimen, surely?

Im sure its being sold as a specimen piece....it will never be melted but retained as a large RARE nugget these days.......

In the gold strike heyday even the extremely large ones were melted...now to have such a large nugget and out of the U.S. is historical collectors value..

Keith

It has major collector value! Its worth what a big shot collector is willing to pay.

Remember there are people out there with insane amounts of money....and will buy it just to say they have it.

It sold...

But Don Kagin, the Tiburon-based coin dealer who brokered the deal, said that a "prominent Bay Area collector" paid about $400,000 for the nugget weighing 6.07 pounds. That wasn't far off from the asking price, he said.

"Let's just say it's a win-win for everybody, Kagin said, adding that the nugget went up for sale Thursday with the deal finalized on Friday.

OhOh, I'm getting a sense of Deja-Vu all over again....

los vega casinos like these trinkets on display so pay a premium i guess