Men using Metal Detectors found gold nugget near Ballarat weighing more than 3.5 kilograms [Shocking]

A gold nugget found near Ballarat and weighing more than 3.5 kilograms has been sold for $292,800 at auction in Melbourne.

Three men came across it at an undisclosed location near the Victorian town when they were prospecting along the side of the road in 2012.

The Destiny nugget - named as such because the trio believed it was their destiny to find it - is the size of two fists and weighs 3.663kg.

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Harry Glenn, an auctioneer with Mossgreen who conducted the sale, said the first thing that struck you about the nugget was its weight.
"It's a bit of a surprise when you put it in your hands, you think you're going to sink through the floor," he said.

The men who found it were using a metal detector and found it just 15 centimetres under the surface.
But the fabulous find almost did not happen.  "It was bucketing down and they were about to call it a day," Mr Glenn said.  "But they got a lucky break in the weather, they jumped out of the car and the first thing they found was that."

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The nugget has been on display at the Sovereign Hill Gold Museum in Ballarat and staff had set the value at $500,000.

Gold prices have fallen since it was found but Mr Glenn had expected bids from $250,000 to $450,000.  "There aren't many gold nugget specimens this size like this left any more," Mr Glenn said. "This is one of the largest nuggets to hit the open market for a long time."



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Mr Glenn had expected interest to come from buyers in the US, in particular the casinos in Las Vegas, because such items are rare.  Victoria is well known for producing gold, particularly around Ballarat, which was the heart of Victoria's goldrush in the 1850s.

The world's largest known nugget, The Welcome Stranger, was found in 1869 at Moliagul, north-west of Melbourne, and weighs a whopping 65.3kg.  The largest nugget to be found in the 20th century with a metal detector was the Hand of Faith, which was located in nearby Kingower in 1980 and weighed 24.6kg.

The exact location of where the Destiny nugget was found remains a closely guarded secret, but it has prompted a few more fossickers to try their luck in the Ballarat region.
"I think a lot of people will be interested in the results of the sale today and I think it will start a bit of renaissance in the gold prospecting field," Mr Glenn said.

Article and Image Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-06/destiny-gold-nugget-goes-under-the-hammer-auction/5870670