Treasure hunter finds England’s largest gold nugget with antique metal detector
An amateur treasure hunter, Richard Brock, found a valuable gold nugget, estimated to be worth more than 38 thousand dollars, within the first 20 minutes of his exploration, which took place in May last year.
Brock, a metal detecting enthusiast, arrived late to an event for enthusiasts and, as he prepared for the activity, noticed that his main device was having problems.
Despite adversity, including equipment malfunction, Brock managed to find a gold nugget weighing 64.8 grams in just 20 minutes of searching. Named “Hiro’s Nugget”, the discovery is recognized as the largest gold nugget ever found in England.
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Richard Brock plans to sell his find at auction and split the proceeds with the owner of the place where the piece was discovered. The “Hiro Nugget” is being auctioned online by Mullock Jones, with bidding open until April 1st, and is expected to fetch between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds sterling (equivalent to 38,000 to 50,700 dollars).
“We have worked with gold on other occasions, but usually in formats such as rings, jewelry or coins,” said auctioneer Ben Jones. He added that “this is, without a doubt, a very unique situation” for the auction house.
Aged 67, Brock has been metal detecting since 1989. Last year, in May, he joined a group for an expedition in the Shropshire Hills, an area west of Birmingham. His journey from Somerset to the site took more than three hours by car.
Despite the delay, he decided to persist in the search. When he noticed the failure in the main device, he resorted to an older detector that he had as a spare. The replacement equipment was also not in great condition, with the screen faded and, in Brock’s words, “pretty much unusable.”
Within minutes, the backup device signaled something hidden approximately five or six inches underground.
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Brock began excavation and revealed a nugget described as being “approximately the size of a UK 50 pence coin”.
“It just goes to show that the equipment used is not the most important factor, but rather being in the right place and keeping an eye on what the ground may hide,” Brock said in a statement released by the auction house.
Brock’s find was immediately shared with the other expedition participants, who quickly began exploring the nearby area, motivated by the chance of finding something similar.
It is important to note that larger gold nuggets have been discovered in other parts of the United Kingdom, such as Scotland and Wales. Examples include the 85.7-gram Douglas Nugget found in 2017 and the 121.3-gram Reunion Nugget from 2019. However, the piece found by Brock holds the record for the largest nugget discovered specifically in England.
It remains unclear how such a large fragment of gold ended up buried in that region of England. However, the site is known for having rocks that, according to experts, may have originated in Wales, an area already recognized for its abundance of gold.
“The area includes an old road or railway line, as well as stone remains of Welsh origin,” Jones explained. He concluded that “there are several possible explanations for the presence of this nugget at the site.”
