On February 5, 1869, the British, John Deason and Richard Oates, made an incredible discovery in the town of Moliagul in the state of Victoria in Australia: just 3 cm below the ground there was an enormous nugget of gold.
The latter, called Welcome Stranger, is still today the largest gold nugget ever found on Earth. When it was discovered, it weighed more than 100kg, but once cleaned, its weight is estimated at around 72kg.
The two men took the gold nugget back to the London Chartered Bank of Australia, and exchanged it for the sum of 9,381 pounds, or approximately 160,000 euros. Today, the value of the Welcome Stranger is estimated at more than 3 million euros .
Unfortunately, nothing remains of it today. It was melted into ingots shortly after its discovery, however full-size reproductions of the gold nugget can be found in some museums.
The Victoria region has been the site of many gold discoveries, and Australia's gold discovery is the largest in the world. At its peak, the state of Victoria alone was worth 1/3 of the world's gold production.
