Monday, January 09, 2006

Buy Gold Nuggets

When it comes to buying gold nuggets, "There’s gold in them thar hills!", is the exciting cry and indeed, in Victoria Australia, there is still gold in the depths of the country (or bush as it is known locally).

Gold nuggets are quite rare as they are only found above ground, not in mines, which is where most gold these days is extracted from. So most nuggets are usually only those found by prospectors fossicking* around in streams and outlying areas around the hill in many areas of Australia.

Gold nuggets are an excellent buy and usually increase in value, not just because of the gold but because of the history and romance attached to them.

The most famous gold nugget is the largest ever found. The Great Welcome Nugget. Found at Ballarat Victoria in Australia in the 1800s, it weighed in at 68.956 grams and contained an estimated 68.272 grams of pure gold. That, at today’s prices, would be well over 1088 US Dollars.

Despite this, gold nuggets are still obtainable from gold dealers, and Mints such as the Perth Mint in sizes ranging from 1 gram up to about 10 ounces or more. But it is rare, although possible, to find any gold nuggets over 14 ounces. Most are in the 1 ounce or smaller variety.

With gold nuggets there is almost always a presentation case or it is sealed in a plastic bubble. Although this is an additional cost it also comes with a certificate detailing its authenticity and this cannot be removed from the plastic without damaging it.

Gold nuggets are collected often for their historical value rather than for investment purposes. Although some people do collect for their future investment value, most people prefer gold coins and bullion bars for investment purposes.

Gold nuggets have a magic all their own. Each gold nugget usually has a story all it's own. How the nugget was formed, discovered and who the original prospector was, forms part of the history of each gold nugget.

A delightful hobby, if an expensive one, collecting gold nuggets is really like collecting parts of history and you can sit there and feel a part of that history when you hold in your hand an Australian Gold Nugget

*fossicking: Australian. To search for gold, especially by reworking washings or waste piles.

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