Photo Credit: Estates Consignments
Natural 4.2 Gram Californian Gold Nugget
Buy It Now Price: $375 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)
Pros:
-This compact, 4.2 gram Californian gold nugget conjures up images of grizzled prospectors in the American Old West wading into ice-cold streams in search of treasure.
-This Californian gold nugget measures 12.8 mm (0.50 inches) long by 9.3 mm (0.37 inches) wide. Although this is a fairly sizable nugget at 4.2 grams (0.1350 troy ounces) in weight, it is actually smaller than a dime due to gold’s incredibly high density!
-California has a longstanding association with gold, with deposits of the glittering yellow metal found scattered throughout the state. But it is best known for the California Gold Rush, which lasted from 1848 to 1855. Some men struck gold and made fortunes during this time, although most found little or no precious metal.
-California rivals Australia in producing some of the purest gold nuggets on the planet. The purity of Californian gold nuggets generally ranges from about 90% fine on the low end all the way up to 99% pure. So the seller may be low-balling this nugget’s fineness by saying it is only 22 karat (91.67%) gold!
-Almost all gold nuggets found throughout history have been indiscriminately melted down for their metal content. It is only within the past 30 years or so that collector demand has prompted miners and prospectors to save some of their finer specimens. As a result, gold nuggets of any size are quite scarce today.
-Because gold has been mined in California for over 160 years, most of the state’s primary mines and placer deposits were worked out long ago. This makes Californian gold nuggets much rarer (and more expensive) than similarly sized nuggets from Australia or Alaska (which are already rare to begin with).
-This genuine Californian gold nugget would make a great gift for the mineral collector or gold bug in your life at a price of just $375, or $89 a gram. I find it amazing that for only a few hundred dollars you can buy the very thing that 19th century prospectors struggled so hard to find!
Cons:
-Because of their greater rarity, Californian gold nuggets are more expensive than Alaskan, British Columbian or Australian gold nuggets on a per-gram basis. So if you want the absolute largest nugget possible for your money, this isn’t the one for you. Instead, this nugget would be a good fit for a Western mining buff or Old West history aficionado.
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