Posted on 04/08/2024 12:06:27 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A metal detectorist has unearthed a gold nugget that is currently up for auction and expected to sell for over $37,000.
The largest gold nugget ever found in England was discovered by a man using a faulty metal detecting device.
Metal detectorist Richard Brock unearthed the chunk of gold last May while exploring Shropshire, a county in western England, despite arriving late to a meetup with fellow treasure hunters and using an older detector, The Guardian reported.
About 20 minutes into his search, Brock, who has been metal detecting for 35 years, discovered the nugget. The chunk of gold weighs 2.3 ounces (64.8 grams) and is roughly larger than a quarter, CNN reported.
"The machine I was using was pretty much kaput — it was only half working," Brock told The Guardian. "It just goes to show that it doesn't really matter what equipment you use. If you are walking over the find and are alert enough to what might be lurking underneath the soil, that makes all the difference."
Given the circumstances, Brock said he "couldn't believe it." However, how the gold got there remains a mystery.
Mullock Jones, a Shropshire-based auction house, is currently taking bids for the nugget as part of an online auction, which ends April 1. The nugget is expected to sell for at least $37,800 (30,000 British pounds).
The nugget is considered a "rare find," Ben Jones, an auctioneer and valuer at Mullock Jones, told CNN. "The site does contain an old road/railway line and has remnants of Welsh stone within," he said. "So [there's] a variety of possibilities of how it made it there."
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Roughly the size of a US quarter. Not as big as you’d think.
by gold weight, maybe 5k USD.
About 2.1 troy ounces. Journalists never seem to know about troy weight.
Article said $35K
“Nugget...Unearthed With Faulty Metal Detector”
Wouldn’t a shovel be easier?
For whatever reason, nuggets command a premium price. With this one’s history and instant notoriety, it commands an even larger premium.
Hey! My great . . . (10 to the 10 power) ancestor dropped that while running away from the Normans?
Anyway, IT IS MINE!
2.3 oz is much larger than a quarter
Should be more than twice the size of a gold double eagle
Just repeating what’s in the article. Don’t shoot the messenger.
Richard Brock looks up and gives thanks I would.
Right underneath that gold nugget was one that would have been weighed in by many pounds but he had faulty equipment so... he found a 2.88oz nugget.
Largest in the world was found in Victoria, Australia and weighed 210 lbs.
Largest in California weighed 109.2 lbs.
https://roaringcampgold.com/rarest-largest-gold-nuggets-california-history/
The value is in it being a natural 2 oz nugget, not the gold value. On Gold Rush Whitewater, they found a 6 oz nugget with an estimated value of $70,000.
Thanks nickcarraway.
Specimen price $37,000.
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