Hand of Faith
Australian gold nugget found in 1980
The Hand of Faith is a very large gold nugget that was found by Kevin Hillier using a metal detector near Kingower, Victoria, Australia, on 26 September 1980. Weighing 875 troy ounces (ozt; 27.21 kg, or 72 troy pounds and 11 troy ounces), the gold nugget was only 12 inches (30 cm) below the surface, resting in a vertical position. The announcement of the discovery occurred at a press conference, attended by Premier of Victoria Dick Hamer, in Melbourne on 8 October 1980. Kovac's Gems & Minerals was appointed as the agent for the sale of the huge nugget by Hillier. It was sold to the Golden Nugget Casino chain for over a million dollars.
The Hand of Faith is currently on public display at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas in the United States. Replicas of the nugget are on display at a number of Golden Nugget casinos, including the Golden Nugget Laughlin and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City.
It was initially incorrectly stated as weighing only 720 ozt, but after correction, the new calculation was 874.82 ozt. This explains why some publications continue to give an incorrect weight. It is still regarded as the largest modern nugget found by a metal detector.
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