Incredible Metal Detecting Discoveries: True Stories of Amazing Treasures Found by Everyday People Read Free

with
his detector, Kevin decided to call it a day and ignore that odd
signal that made his metal detector act so weird, but he just
couldn't get it out of his head. He decided this would be the last
thing he dug up that day.

    Waiting for him
under only six inches of earth was the largest gold nugget ever
recovered with a metal detector. Kevin called it, “The Hand of
Faith.”

Hand of Faith
image courtesy of FF23-fr

    This monster
sized nugget tips the scales at 45 troy ounces. That is just over 60
pounds or 27.21 kilograms of gold. As they say down under, “What
a beauty!”

    The unique
shape of this huge nugget is how it got its name. It was recovered in
a vertical position, and it appeared as if a huge golden hand was
reaching up out of the ground to meet Kevin Hiller. Of course, Kevin
eagerly reached down to shake this massive golden hand.

    What Kind of
Metal Detector Was Kevin Using?
    Only
one metal detector manufacturer can claim their machine was used to
uncover one of the largest gold nuggets in the world. Kevin was
swinging a Garrett metal detector when he made this discovery. The
exact model is not known.

    What
Happened to the Hand of Faith?
    Kevin
sold his massive find not long after it was announced during a press
conference. The nugget did not stay in its homeland of Australia. It
was sold to the Golden Nugget Casino for a cool million dollars where
it remains on display in their lobby.

    You
can feast your eyes on this massive hunk of gold if you happen to be
in the Las Vegas area. Here are the details.

    Golden
Nugget Casino
    129
East Fremont St
    Las
Vegas, NV 89101
    Telephone:
702-385-7111

    Is There a
Metal Detecting Moral to This Story?
    If
you have spent any amount of time metal detecting, then you may have
been told that a particular location has been “hunted out.”
This phrase implies that all of the treasure has already been found.
That wasn't the case in the little town of Kingower.

    The
largest nugget was found almost 120 years after everyone left the
town for what they thought was a more prosperous gold bearing area.
Don't ever let anyone tell you an area has been hunted out. There is
always a possibility that someone missed the single best piece of
treasure in the area.

Destiny
    You would think that three
massive gold nugget metal detecting finds would be enough, but people
are unearthing these massive nuggets all the time. Like the amazing
story before this one, this massive nugget was uncovered in Australia
where a new type of gold rush has begun. Would be prospectors are
busy swinging metal detectors looking for their slice of the golden
pie and a prospector by the name of Bill was the lucky one this time.

    This story takes place in
Ballarat, Australia an area of our planet that is no stranger to
large amounts of gold. This area was discovered by a couple of
shepherds back in 1837. The shepherds were looking for an area where
water was plentiful. A horrible
drought was crippling their current pastures. They found what they
were looking for in what would later become Ballarat.

    For
13 years, shepherds enjoyed the water rich area. Days were spent
watching over their flocks and nights were spent counting sheep in
their sleep. Things were serene and peaceful. The shepherds found
what they considered to be Nirvana! All of that was about to change.

    In
August of 1851, gold was discovered in the area. This created a gold
rush that caused the area to swell like a puppy's belly after a large
meal. Thousands of miners descended upon the area like a locust horde
of biblical proportions.

    In
one year alone, over 1000 miners were busy seeking that funny yellow
metal. Within three years, the population of miners grew to over
20,000 and they were mining over 20,000 pounds (9000 kilos) of gold
in just the first year alone. This is the gold that was legally put
onto the books. There was easily just as much gold slipping through
the cracks and making its way to the black market.

    Care
to guess how