10/13/2026
70-Ounce Natural Gold Nugget Highlights Expanded Gems And Minerals Offerings At Heritage Auctions
Massive gold nugget, found by amateur collector in Arizona in 1989, expected to bring $300,000+ to lead fine quality mineral and gemstone offerings, May 20 at Center 548 in New York; Azurite on Malachite from renowned Collection of Archduke Stephan of the House of Habsburg-Lothringen brings famed, royal provenance to event
NEW YORK – In showcasing its newly expanded Fine Minerals category, Heritage auctions will be offering a tremendous 70+-ounce Gold in Quartz nugget – found in desert country a few miles east of the Colorado River canyon bottom in Arizona during the winter of 1989 by amateur gold hunter Bud Guthrie – estimated at $300,000+ on May 20 at Center 548, 548 West 22nd Street as part of its Natural History Signature® Auction.
The astounding Gold in Quartz nugget, found in Dolan Springs, Mohave County, Arizona, was the find of a lifetime for Bud Guthrie and the nugget has achieved a good bit of fame in the subsequent 20+ years after its unearthing. After spending hour after cold hour searching with his “gold bug” metal detector, and turning up little save an occasional stray bullet, Guthrie moved a few miles east into desert country where there appeared to be some old mine workings. Sweeping the open areas between scrub bushes, he was rewarded with a beep and began to dig. A full 16 inches down he ran into something solid and the rest, as they say, is history
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