Despite its record breaking size, you may have to do a bit of hunting to find the world's largest intact golden nugget.
Casinos are purposefully designed to keep you inside of them - mirrors, distractions, and confusingly identical hallways leading to even more gambling adventures are all part of a strategy to keep you in and keep you playing. Because of this, you'll have to be diligent and thorough to locate the impressive chunk of metal glowing warmly in its display case. Move through the flashing lights and maddening din of bells and siren-like 'winning!" sounds to the hotel area, and in a quiet, unassuming hallway you will find it - The Hand of Faith.
One might assume that this massive nugget was discovered here in Vegas, or at least somewhere in the gold-heavy west during the heyday of the Gold Rush. Strangely, The Hand of Faith was discovered 1980 - not by a mining company or lucky settler seeking fortune in the California hills, but stumbled upon in the small Australian town of Wedderburn, by a guy taking a new toy out for a whirl.
Kevin Hillier went out one fine spring day to see what tiny metal treasures his new metal detector could unearth. In a stroke of mind-blowing luck, he managed to locate the largest golden nugget ever located with a metal detector, which also happened to be the second largest nugget ever discovered period, a whopping 875 troy ounces. The 61-lb. mass of gold was a mere 12 inches below the surface.
After an exciting press conference and some accolades, Hillier sold his golden nugget to the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for over a million dollars. The nugget can be viewed in a hallway near the lobby, its value rising and falling but its shining magnificence remaining ever priceless.
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