Biggest gold nugget on the planet: discovery of 72 kg of pure gold was worth MILLIONS, but was sold for just 12 thousand euros, check it out!
With a story worthy of fiction, the miners John Deason and Richard Oates had their lives transformed in 1869 when they found the largest gold nugget in the world. This monumental discovery, known as “Welcome Stranger,” should have guaranteed them an incalculable fortune. However, the reality was different: the nugget, which was worth millions, was sold for just 12 thousand euros. The fame and glory that accompanied the discovery did not translate into the expected wealth, leaving an intriguing historical mark on the appreciation of natural resources and the fate of their discoverers.
The world’s largest nugget weighed 72 kg
The gold nugget worth millions, named Welcome stranger, was found by the duo in Victoria, Australia. Weighing an impressive 72 kg and measuring over 61 centimeters long, The world’s largest gold nugget was so big it took a crowbar to dig it up. Happy with the opportunity to change their lives, the workers took the nugget to the town of Dunolly to be weighed at the London Chartered Bank, where it was broken into pieces due to its enormous size.
The sale of the world’s largest nugget earned the duo a modest sum of 12 thousand euros, which at the time was enough to make them rich. However, the estimate is that, if it were sold today, the largest gold nugget in the world it would be worth around 2,5 million euros.
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According to Suzie, when people hear her name, they always ask her where the gold is or if she is rich. “Unfortunately, I’m not, and I don’t even have jewelry made with the stone,” she says.
Currently, a replica of the artifact can be seen at the Dunolly Museum and the site of the discovery, Moliagul, known as the Golden Triangle, still attracts many tourists and enthusiasts looking for gold.
However, as this, considered the largest gold nugget in the world, was broken and melted shortly after its discovery, the nugget that bears the title of largest in existence is another and it is Brazilian. The Canaã nugget was found in 1983 by Julio de Deus in the state of Pará. Located today at the Central Bank’s Values Museum, in Brasília, the nugget weighs 60 kilos.
The peak of activity occurred precisely in the year in which Pepita Canaã was found, with official records indicating that 14 tons of gold were obtained in 1983. At the beginning of the 90s, however, less than 300 kilos were found per year.
While Deason, Oats and Julio de Deus sweated to find their nuggets, Kevin Hillier relied on a helping hand from technology to find the Hand of Faith. Also discovered in Australia in 1980, the nugget of 27 is the largest already found with the help of a metal detector. Sold for more than a million dollars, the Hand of Faith is on display in a Las Vegas casino.