Crystallized Gold Nugget. Alder Gulch Mining District (Virginia City Mining District; Fairweather Mining District). Ma...

Description

Gold

Crystallized Gold Nugget
Alder Gulch Mining District (Virginia City Mining District; Fairweather Mining District)
Madison Co., Montana, USA

The superlative nature of this sizable Gold Nugget is visually obvious at first glance, but it is the historical backstory that makes this specimen so highly collectible. From the Alder Gulch Mining District in Virginia City, Montana, this locality represents the richest placer Gold strike in the Rocky Mountains. Weighing in at just shy of 7 troy ounces, this massive offering has two wonderful sides of flattened, yellow Gold, with sharp edges, and only minor Quartz inclusionary matrix. This crystallized example displays the odd stage between nugget and crystal form due to rolling action of a stream. This spectacular nugget from such an unusual locality relative to more expected origins for the precious metal, such as California, is something quite special. Measuring nearly 3 inches (7.6 cm) in length, the nugget offers a relatively large amount of surface area and, of course, represents a substantial amount of Gold. A pair of "old school," typed labels accompanies the specimen, which incorrectly states the Virginia City locality as being in Nevada instead of Montana, adding a further level of intrigue to this already most interesting example of Western Gold.
Measurements: 2.72 x 2.30 x 0.53 inches (6.92 x 5.83 x 1.35 cm), weighs 214.2 grams (6.885 oz t)

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