Story highlights
"Butte nugget" nets $400K at a San Francisco antique show
The 6-pound gold chunk was discovered in Northern California in July
Buyer wishes to remain anonymous
The term nugget doesn’t quite do it justice.
This thing is more like a whopper.
A more than 6-pound chunk of gold sold over the weekend for $400,000, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
An anonymous Bay Area buyer snatched up the “Butte nugget” – named for the Northern California county in which it was discovered this summer – at the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show.
The huge hunk of bullion went on public display Thursday, piquing the interest of hundreds who flocked to the show to get a peek.
“Nuggets like this don’t come along every day,” said David McCarthy, the nugget’s appraiser. “I really didn’t believe that I would see a California nugget of this size unearthed during my lifetime.”
McCarthy told the Chronicle that the buyer is “a prominent Bay Area collector” who specializes in historical items.
A fitting specialty, given that his collection is now one for the history books.
And that’s a distinction that is worth its weight in gold.