312

28.55 Troy oz. Gold Nugget, AK - Manley Hot Springs,Yukon

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Bullion Start Price:30,000.00 USD Estimated At:60,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD
28.55 Troy oz. Gold Nugget, AK - Manley Hot Springs,Yukon
IMPORTANT NOTE ON BUYERS PREMIUMS:

Lot 100 to 343 have a premium of 15%.

The rest of the sale is 19.5% as noted in the listing.

Lot Pick Up: Holabird-Kagin Americana,
3555 Airway Drive Ste #309,
Reno NV 89511,
Sunday - December 9, 10am-4pm
c1980 - This hefty gold nugget is 5" long, 2.5" wide, and 0.75" thick and bears few quartz inclusions. This nugget can be valued as follows: at $1700/oz spot = $48,450. $1750/oz = $49,875. $1800/oz = $51,300. $1850/oz = $52,725.

This nugget was mined on American Creek in the Manley Hot Springs mining district. The district, founded in the 1890s, was named after Hillyard Bascom Knowles, an ingenious horse thief from Texas who changed his name to Fred G. Manley upon arriving in Alaska. Manley Hot Springs is located about 5 miles north of the Tanana River on Hot Springs Slough, at the end of the Elliott Highway, 160 miles west of Fairbanks in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. In addition to its resplendant size and historical significance, this nugget bears quite an interesting provenance. This nugget was found in the 1980s by a Californian who had moved to Alaska in the 1940s and later raised a family there. On the banks of the American Creek, which was known to produce large gold nuggets, the family`s mining operations grew and enjoyed success until a worker was caught stealing large nuggets from the sluice box in the middle of the night. The thief brought many such stolen nuggets to Anchorage, where a jeweler there suggested the large nuggets--including this one--should be sold to a collector in the lower 48. After months of expensive legal processing, the nugget was returned to the family whose operation had discovered it. Now, this fine and well-traveled nugget is being offered with the hopes of once again hitting "bedrock pay." -62223