Nevada is one of the largest gold sources in the entire world. In 2015 alone, Nevada produced nearly 5,340,000 troy ounces of gold worth a whopping $6.194 billion. This represents 78 percent of all gold produced in the United States and 5.4 percent of the world’s total gold production. Appropriately located in the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas is the world’s largest gold nugget. Discovered in Victoria, Australia, with a regular guy and his metal detector, this incredible nugget is now on permanent display at this Las Vegas landmark.
The Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino is located at 129 E. Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.
Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino/Facebook
This largest gold nugget in the world has been dubbed the Hand of Faith.
Douglas Palmer/Flickr
This incredible discovery was not found by a mining company or prospector searching for his/her fortune during the great California gold rush of 1849.
Lance Henry/Flickr
Instead, the Hand of Faith was discovered in 1980 by a regular guy in Wedderburn, Australia who was trying out his new “toy.”
Lance Henry/Flickr
This regular guy was Kevin Hillier who found the nugget on 16 September 1980 behind the old Kingower school in central Victoria, Australia.
Lance Henry/Flickr
In a true stroke of luck, Hillier managed to find the largest golden nugget ever located with a metal detector - and the second largest nugget ever discovered period. Weighing a whopping 875 troy ounces, this 61-pound lump of pure gold was found less than twelve inches below the surface. In fact, Hillier admitted he almost didn’t even bother to dig it up because he believed his metal detector to be malfunctioning. This incredible nugget measures 47 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm.
Lance Henry/Flickr
After much publicity and press conferences, Hillier decided to sell his impressive discovery.
Lance Henry/Flickr
He sold the nugget (appropriately enough) to the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino for more than $1 million.
Hand of Faith/Facebook
The site of the nugget’s discovery is forever immortalized by this historic marker.
Lance Henry/Flickr
The nugget is located in a hallway near the hotel’s lobby. Despite its price rising and falling with market fluctuations, it remains quite a sight to behold. Oh, and photographing the nugget is especially frowned upon.
Daniel Orth/Flickr
This world’s largest gold nugget is truly a sight to behold. Even though it was not discovered in Nevada, one of the world’s leading producers of gold, it has found its home here. Have you seen this impressive gold nugget up close and personal? Please share your thoughts below.
Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino/Facebook
Douglas Palmer/Flickr
Lance Henry/Flickr
Hand of Faith/Facebook
Daniel Orth/Flickr
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