Courtesy Mullock Jones
(Kitco News) - You don’t need to have the fanciest equipment to be a metal detectorist - all it takes is a little focus and a lot of luck - just ask Richard Brock from Somerset, England.
According to Auctioneers Mullock Jones, Brock found what is believed to be England’s largest gold nugget. The auction house is selling the 64.8g nugget, named the Hiro Nugget, for an asking price between £30,000 to £40,000.
The discovery was made in May 2023 when Brock showed up an hour late to a group dig in the Shropshire Hills near the Welsh border with faulty equipment. However, it only took a few minutes to make this unprecedented discovery.
In an interview with BBC, Brock said that he arrived with three metal detectors, one of which died immediately, and another was “pretty much kaput,” with a faulty screen.
Initially, he found a "few rusty old tent pegs," but within 20 minutes of searching, he discovered the gold nugget, about five or six inches under the ground.
"I couldn't believe it," Brock told the BBC. "I turned up late, was only there a matter of minutes and this treasure-hunting expedition was supposed to last all day. It just goes to show that it doesn't really matter what equipment you use. If you are walking over the find and are alert enough to what might be lurking underneath the soil, that makes all the difference."
Brock said that he will split the auction proceeds with the landowner.
The farmland where the group dig took place was believed to have had an old track/road and railway line running through, containing stone from Wales originally, which, according to the auctioneers is an area rich in gold.
While larger nuggets have been discovered throughout the United Kingdom, this is believed to be the largest in England.
“Known examples found previously have been the Douglas Nugget found in Perthshire weighed 85.7g, another nugget found on the shores of Anglesey weighed 97.12g, another The Reunion Nugget found in Scotland weighed 121.3g – but perhaps this example could be the largest found within England, UK,” the auction house said in the nugget’s description.
Ben Jones, an auctioneer from Mullock Jones, said there has been “considerable interest” in the nugget.
"We've handled gold before but usually in the form of a ring, or jewelry or coins. But this is certainly a one-off for us,” he said.
