Dakota Slim's 55.7 Gram Rich Hill Nugget

[Dakota Slim]

OK. here it is folks....

And it is for sale on eBay. Item 130088809880

[COLORADO BOB]

Nice one Slim, way to go.

Didn't get to talk to you today, guess you was away cleaning that big ol nugget.

Bob T.

[nuggethunting]

Hello Dakota Slim,

Yahoo for You!!!! I was hoping to see a few more nice ones come out of the push before the end of the season. I found one many years ago that is very similar to yours. Mine was 2.02 solid ounces, but thick and solid.

The marks on the nuggets are not from where the dozer or you scrapped it, but rather the marks from errosion. Many of the Rich Hill nuggets are scared from the Granite boulders. Many of them have lines, almost like striations (spelling ).

Congrats on the new find,

Rob Allison

[Dakota Slim]

Thanks Bob and Rob. I really have to hand it to Elly at 24K. There's only one way to get the gold off that hill and that's go up there and dig it. If it wasn't for the 24K dozer work, a lot of nice pokes would be empty.

Look at all the fun folks have had on 5 acres this year. There's a lot of overburden left on those pushes and there are over 600 more acres to go.

[AZNuggetBob]

The marks on the nuggets are not from where the dozer or you scrapped it, but rather the marks from errosion. Many of the Rich Hill nuggets are scared from the Granite boulders. Many of them have lines, almost like striations (spelling ).

Yep I agree Rob, boulder skid marks, that side was up and you see that tit, it has a previously joined buddy somewhere near by. I have found pairs several times in that area. Found both pieces and matched them up. Not kidding. Nugget character can tell a lot. Nice nugget and picture Slim.

AznuggetBob

[Jim P.]

Wow, nice slug. Congrats. Later...Jim P.

[nuggethunting]

Hello AzNuggetBob,

Was out there today and found one tiny gold nugget. Spent 90% of the time BSing with people on the claims. A couple of small ones were found today on the pushes, but the "cream of the crop" was taken yesterday.

Leaverite and I did try an old patch that produced about 35-40 ounces of nice crystalline nuggets and quartz/gold specimens, but we both got the old skunk on that patch.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Uncle Ron]

Yo Rob...Was that old patch after a belly full of greasy Screamer burgers? The one we talked about today? Cheers, Unc

[Dakota Slim]

Based on Uncle Ron's suggestion I decided to call it The Rich Hill Hoot Owl Nugget. Here's a photo from a different angle...

[BIGFOOT]

Dakota Slim,others,

I noticed one of the Owl Eyes is square....like a cube of pyrite that got(or still is)oxidized.Also I've noticed when a piece has that many SCRAPE MARKS (of course not all scrapes run the same)that run parallel or side by side that at one point it was the nugget itself that was moving/traveling across a surface getting uniform gouges as oposed to several boulder/rocks running over the top of it.......in that situation the grooves hardly ever run parallel.When there's traffic over the top of a piece...it hardly gets grooved at the same angles(parallel gouging) by different rocks scraping it...and rapidly pounding it in strong current.NOW I'm not familiar with the Geology of RichHill....but when I see parallel grooves like that it REMINDS me of something big & heavy(Glacier?) GRABBING it and scraping it OVER another surface.

NICE PIECE coil swinger!Its got me wondering if thiers been any AU associated with pyrite out there.

Go find the rest of it!

Bigfoot

[AZNuggetBob]

Dakota Slim,others,

I noticed one of the Owl Eyes is square....like a cube of pyrite that got(or still is)oxidized.Also I've noticed when a piece has that many SCRAPE MARKS (of course not all scrapes run the same)that run parallel or side by side that at one point it was the nugget itself that was moving/traveling across a surface getting uniform gouges as oposed to several boulder/rocks running over the top of it.......in that situation the grooves hardly ever run parallel.When there's traffic over the top of a piece...it hardly gets grooved at the same angles(parallel gouging) by different rocks scraping it...and rapidly pounding it in strong current.NOW I'm not familiar with the Geology of RichHill....but when I see parallel grooves like that it REMINDS me of something big & heavy(Glacier?) GRABBING it and scraping it OVER another surface.

NICE PIECE coil swinger!Its got me wondering if thiers been any AU associated with pyrite out there.

Go find the rest of it!

Bigfoot

Really Bigfoot, That nugget is from 24k, Im sure, Its more of a old placer nugget, hillside nugget now, . At least that"s the way I think your reading it, and I would agree with that. I found several out there years ago in that area of 24K club that had idendtical scrape marks and a tit. sometimes I found the mate. It also has a tit. In this peticular area they have rounder bottom edges and flatter top edges. If you laid them on a table you could line them up even the scrape marks lined up. as far as glacial? maybe, I can tell you in my opinion these are some of the oldest nuggets Ive seen or found on Rich Hill. I thought maybe a huge flood before the mountain lifted to its present hight (possibly glacial melt?). The one thing I can tell you about these nuggets is the boulders are sliding down the hill faster than the nuggets at this point in time. The nuggets find a low spot in the decomposed shist or granite and the boulders slide over them. and continue smoothing till present times. If you have a pair of these you probably have the rarest specimen of Rich Hill gold., AzNuggetBob

[nuggethunting]

Hello Bigfoot and AZNuggetBob,

If there was any one guy that knows Rich Hill gold it would be AZNuggetBob. I'm not going into details, but if you know him, you will know ...

I have several multi-ounce Rich Hill nuggets with the same "scare" marks from the Granite Boulders. Most of the nuggets are in low spots, or natural shelves and over millions of years worth of errosion the Granite Cobbles, Boulders and Debris are moving over them.

Talk with you all later,

Rob Allison

Hello All,

I just noticed on the Ebay ad that no one has even bit on the nugget. The price might be a bit steep for the size & character. Now, don't take this wrong, I love the slug type gold that Rich Hill is famous for, but the bad side is most are looking for nuggets that have character.

The Aussie's are selling nice rough crystalline gold nuggets on Ebay much larger for less, which kind of hurts gold nugget sales. I've recently seen nuggets as larger as 10 solid ounces sell for just spot price!

I personally wouldn't sell the nugget for no less than $1,200 - $1,300.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Dakota Slim]

Hmmmm. Maybe I should be buying and not selling.

[Dutchman]

Hi All

I have found several small nuggets on push #4 that have almost identical scrape marks on them as Slims. I think these marks may have occured on these nuggets after the water receded and gravitational slide of the alluvials took over. Just my 2 cents.

[Uncle Ron]

I held the nugget, checked out the striations and just have to say that the going price for the Hoot Owl nugget is #1,935, minimum............That's it...As an investment....Tourist price is $2,863...Cheers, Unc

[Dakota Slim]

There's over 4 days left on the 10 day auction. I don't expect to see any bids until next week. As of this morning, 25 people are watching the auction on eBay. Surely there will be a few bids. If I was really wanting this nugget, I'd come in with a last minute bid of 5K just to be sure I got it, and then hope I get it for under 3 while the other bidders are trying to nickle and dime their way in. They'll get shut out by the buzzer.

The great thing about selling on eBay is valuable items seldom go too cheap. There are enough buyers to determine market price.

[nuggethunting]

Hello Uncle Ron,

Just curious how you came up with the "Tourist Price?" If the nugget sells for $2,000 that is a great price. Spot price on that nugget today would be $1,147.52 (at $652/ounce). If you sold the nugget for 20% over spot the price would be approx. $1,377.02.

Right now at $2,000, that is roughly 65% over spot value.

Trust me, I would love to see the nugget sale for $5,000, but you're only going to get what someone is willing to spend.

I think Datoka Slim made up a great auction with all the pictures and information. This will surely help him sell the nugget at a good price.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[rexb]

Oh, I might as well jump in here too, if it were me I would make the starting price only slightly over spot. That would assure bidders. However, if you can't part with it for that amount it would be wise to raise it somewhat. Two-thousand for the nugget I suppose would be a fair price, but as a starting price I imagine some folks would balk, especially the ones that don't know the history of Rich Hill or don't know what to make of the term "potato patch". It might be good to include a little paragraph about Rich Hill's discovery in the write-up. If the fees were not too high, I would also consider putting a "buy it now" option on it with a price tag somewhere above two-thousand dollars. Some people like the fact that they can just swoop in there and snatch the item out from under everyone with a fixed price.

Rex

[Uncle Ron]

Hi Rob...the "tourist price" came from my old days when I made my living selling gold nuggets... I typically got 3 - 5 times spot for my gold with good old salesmanship ... People who know little about gold mining other than the old time stories buy the "romance" of gold more than the gold ... Hence, the Tourist Price... They were happy, I was happy and it was a good deal for all concerned... Even so, it's difficult to make a sustained living off of gold .... And now days, with Aussies dumping gold so cheap, it is doubly hard...Cheers, Unc

[Dakota Slim]

I have to believe that any serious collector has heard of Rich Hill and the Potato Patch, and I'm guessing very few have nuggets like this. We'll see come next week, but I wouldn't sell it for less than 2K.

Did I mention I had the 6" coil on the Gold Bug 2 when I found it?

[rexb]

I agree any serious U.S. collector and some foreigners, but it never hurts to remind them and get the juices flowing with a little mining history. Plus, it never hurts to try to appeal to the most general audience possible, including those that just might buy on a whim. Just my two cents worth of opinion.

Rex

[nuggethunting]

Hello Dakota and others,

Most serious gold collectors know about the history and gold production of Rich Hill. It's one of the Richest Placer fields in the Southwest and noted for large gold nuggets ranging up to small potato size. Over the years I have seen them as large as 16 solid ounces, many in the 1-4 ounce range.

The old saying was a "One Ounce Gold Nugget" is less common than a "Five Karat Diamond."

Never found a Five Karat Diamond, but have found a good share of One Ounce nuggets over the years.

Over the years I've seen beautiful Australian Gold Nuggets sell for less than spot, and then smaller gold nuggets sell for way over spot. It comes down to what someone it willing to give. If a gold nugget holds good character or resembles something (shape, animal ... ) it can bring a premium price.

Take care,

Rob Allison