A group of Australian gold nuggets displaying their characteristic honeycomb appearance. The iron-rich laterite matrix on some of the nuggets also confirms them as Australian in origin.
There is nothing worse than feeling stuck in life. It can be dehumanizing to be flat broke with no social life and a monotonous, dead-end job. But sometimes being stuck in a rut just means you need a new beginning.
In times past, Americans had a particularly effective way of dealing with this issue. They moved West. The Great American West represented a new beginning – a chance to reset everything that had gone wrong before. You could simply leave behind all of your disappointments and failures and boldly take a chance on yourself. In the wide open expanses of the sunny American West the sky – and opportunities – seemed to be endless.
And few physical objects manifest this pioneering spirit more thoroughly than natural gold nuggets.
Gold nuggets represent the opportunity and freedom of making a fresh start. A man who returned home from the wild American West, his pockets heavy with gold nuggets, had truly arrived. He had struck out to find his fortune and made his own way.
Nothing stoked the imagination of the 19th century public more than the idea of a remote, crystal-clear river peppered with glittering gold nuggets. And with good reason too; gold nuggets are nature’s depository of raw, unrefined riches. Their organically sculpted lines and warm metallic radiance are aesthetically pleasing at a primal level.
Gold is an extremely rare element, having an occurrence in the earth’s crust of approximately 3.1 parts per billion by weight. Gold ore from modern mines contains only microscopic specks of the noble metal; the contained gold is completely invisible to the naked eye. In fact, an open pit mining operation that yields just 2 grams of gold per ton of ore extracted is considered a rich mine.
Yet natural gold nuggets easily exceed even this remarkable rarity. It is estimated that only 3% of gold mined today is from alluvial (river) deposits. Most of this gold is in dust or flake form with only a minuscule fraction recovered as nuggets.
In addition, gold nugget discovery rates have been steadily declining by 5% to 10% every year for at least the last 30 years. This is despite considerable improvements in mining, dredging and metal detector technology during that time. Simply put, gold nuggets are nature’s winning lottery tickets and they are getting scarcer every year.
Australian Natural Gold Nuggets for Sale on eBay
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We normally think of nuggets as smooth, water-worn lumps of gold. And this is definitely the case when a nugget has been subjected to decades or even centuries of pounding hydraulic action in a swiftly flowing stream. However, not all natural gold nuggets have been through such harsh alluvial conditions.
Some examples possess well defined edges, almost giving them the appearance of crystallized honey. A few rare specimens even reveal gold’s marvelous cubic crystalline structure. Australian nuggets, often found in dry regions, sometimes display this intriguing, crystallized honeycomb look.
Incessantly scrubbed of impurities by the action of wind and water, gold nuggets are compact, knobby chunks of glistening, concentrated wealth. Gold’s incredibly high density of 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter means that nuggets are amazingly heavy for their size.
They typically range from 20 to 23 karats (83% to 96%) fine gold with primarily silver and small amounts of copper as alloying components. These trifling purity variances among nuggets generally have minimal impact on pricing. As a point of reference, gold nuggets are substantially finer than 14 karat (58%) or 18 karat (75%) gold used in higher end jewelry.
Gold was first discovered in Australia in 1851. Today, the arid, mineral rich continent is the undisputed leader in gold nugget production. Not only are more gold nuggets found in Australia than any other gold field in the world, but they also tend to be larger.
In fact, in 1869 the largest gold nugget every found was discovered in the state of Victoria, Australia. Called the Welcome Stranger, its total weight was a staggering 241 pounds (109 Kilograms). Australian gold nuggets are also renowned for their extremely high purity, commonly possessing finenesses in the mid 90% range. All of these factors combine to make natural gold nuggets from Australia highly collectible.
The Alaska/Yukon geographic area is the other great gold nugget region of the world. Gold was first discovered there in 1896, precipitating the famous Klondike gold rush. This historic gold rush conjures up images of grizzled prospectors wading knee deep into ice-cold streams surrounded by inhospitable wilderness in their relentless quest to wrest golden treasures from the unforgiving earth.
And this vision is largely correct; prospecting for alluvial gold in Alaska was, and remains to this day, incredibly brutal, dangerous work.
Natural gold nuggets from Alaska tend to be more water worn than their Australian brethren due to Alaska’s wetter climate. Alaskan nuggets also trend towards slightly lower purities than Australian nuggets, with finenesses commonly in the high 80% range. The slight differences in purity between Alaskan and Australian nuggets do not significantly impact desirability or pricing, however.
Although Australia and Alaska/Yukon are currently the two major global producers of gold nuggets, certain other historic gold mining districts are nugget rich as well. California, in particular, is inexorably linked with gold in the popular imagination. While large nuggets are rarely unearthed there today, small to medium sized nuggets are still found.
Many other states of the American West, such as Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Idaho and Montana also produce natural gold nuggets sporadically. Occasionally gold nuggets come to market from other exotic locations like Venezuela, Russia, Mexico or British Columbia.
Sometimes gold is found still attached to its parent (matrix) rock. Quartz, with its characteristic milky-white, sugar-crystal appearance, is the most frequently encountered matrix material. Quartz has traditionally been a key indicator to astute prospectors that gold is nearby.
The other matrix rock commonly found associated with gold is laterite, an iron-rich mineral that is a rusty red or blackish color. Laterite infused nuggets are commonly of Australian origin.
Gold nuggets that have experienced significant weathering or alluvial action typically have either little or no matrix. Due to their tremendous rarity, gold specimens prominently embedded in their matrix can be very expensive. Attractive examples sell for far higher premiums over bullion value than comparable gold nuggets with little or no matrix.
Alaskan Natural Gold Nuggets for Sale on eBay
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While all gold nuggets are natural works of art, some are more captivating than others. Larger nuggets are not only more impressive than smaller sizes, but also much scarcer. For example, a 16 gram gold nugget is estimated to be almost 5 times rarer than its 4 gram counterpart. Consequently, only gold nuggets of more than 2 grams in weight should be considered for investment purposes.
Another characteristic to look for in a nugget is a rich, deep, golden color. Nuggets with a lower gold purity and high silver content may appear pale or washed out.
Shape can also be important, although this attribute is more in the eye of the beholder. Boring or awkwardly shaped gold nuggets are less desirable and sell for lower prices than interesting, attractive specimens. Tragically, before the hobby of gold nugget collecting became popular almost all nuggets were melted down for bullion. Prior to the early 1990s, vanishingly few specimens – usually larger, museum-grade pieces – survived.
To hold a gold nugget in your hand is to possess a great treasure. It represents millennia of relentless natural forces in combination with countless hours of exhausting labor from a shrewd, determined prospector. Gold nuggets are the embodiment of mankind’s pioneering spirit, sublimated into a small, gnarled lump of coveted precious metal. Given these attributes, it is no surprise that gold nuggets are worth considerably more than the intrinsic value of the gold they contain.
Premiums over bullion value run from approximately 30% for smaller sizes to perhaps 100% for impressively large nuggets. Specimens in quartz or other matrix rock often sell for even larger premiums. Pricing effectively starts at around $200 for investment grade examples with a minimum weight of 2 grams (with spot gold at $1,900 per ounce). If your investment portfolio needs a new beginning, then consider exploring a dazzling collection of exquisite, natural gold nuggets.
Read more in-depth Antique Sage bullion & gemstone investment guides here.