On March 26, there are three chances to win $1,000 worth of gold nuggets in a scavenger hunt. The hunts will take place in downtown Greenville at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and at noon.
The event is hosted by local auction house Richmond Auctions and Australian gold prospector Tyler Mahoney. Hints will be dropped on social media at instagram.com/theprospectorsclub_. The Prospectors Club is Mahoney’s gold dealership.
Mahoney is the star of Discovery Channel show “Gold Rush” and author of the book “Gold Digger.” She is also a fourth-generation prospector dating back to her great-grandfather “in the days before modern technology.” Following in his footsteps, her grandmother, father and mother, herself and her brother have since been prospectors.
“A lot of people don’t ever get the chance to see gold nuggets,” Mahoney said. “So it’s a good way to get the general public gold nuggets. And I thought, well, whilst we’re in Greenville with Richmond Auctions, it was a good way to kind of get the word out and get some gold to the people.”
Mahoney and Richmond will collaborate on an auction taking place in September. The auction will allow the public to bid on pieces of gold nuggets extracted by Mahoney. Richmond specializes in automotive memorabilia, antiques and high-end firearms. Gold nuggets are not usually in the catalog.
“The problem is the sourcing,” founder Jordan Richmond said. “If it weren’t for Tyler, we couldn’t go source this. And so to put together the amount of gold nuggets we’ll have – somewhere in the 100- to 200-nugget range for the whole auction – would be virtually impossible.”
What to do if you find a gold nugget
If you should find one of the $1,000 nuggets, it is important to understand that it is like a collector’s item or a piece of art. Given the rarity and scarcity of gold nuggets, there is a premium on top of the gold’s worth. Melting it down, as Mahoney says, would be blasphemous. Natural nuggets contain other metals and inclusions, making each one unique.
Richmond used the analogy of a mint condition Michael Jordan rookie card from the 1980s. In other words, you collect it and protect it.
“As the years go on and nuggets get harder to find, the scarcity increases and the premium on them increases as well,” she said.
Richmond Auctions is located at 1451 Donaldson Road in Greenville. A date has not been set for the gold nugget auction but it will take place sometime in September. Visit richmondauctions.com to stay up to date on auction announcements.
