SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – One of the biggest gold nuggets found in modern times in Northern California’s historic Gold Country is going up for sale.
Weighing in at 6.07 pounds, the Butte Nugget is expected to carry a price tag of $350,000.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1sNy00B ) that the nugget’s finder asked dealer Don Kagin to keep his name and the location of the discovery secret.
What’s known is that a gold hunter found it in July on public land in the Butte County mountains. Prospecting for gold is legal on most public lands in the state.
David McCarthy, a coin and rare-minerals expert, told the Chronicle that he took a blindfolded ride to the site of the discovery so he would be satisfied the nugget was genuine.