Ironstone’s Crown Jewel is the world’s largest piece of
crystalline gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
.
At 44 lbs
troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
(16.4 kg), it is substantially larger than the Fricot "Nugget" (13.8 lb troy; 5.15 kg) and the Whopper (11.7 lb troy; 4.37 kg), the next two largest specimens.
History
Gold found in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
is often in
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
, which is typically a hard rock, mined in vertical or horizontal shafts. This contrasts with
placer (loose gold, often nuggets) and fine gold that has been recovered by
hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment.Paul W. Thrush, ''A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms'', US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.560. In the placer mining of ...
.
The gold specimen was unearthed at the Sonora Mining Corporation mine in
Jamestown, California
Jamestown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tuolumne County, California, United States. The population was 3,433 at the 2010 census, up from 3,017 at the 2000 census. Formerly a California Gold Rush town, Jamestown is now a California Hist ...
on December 24, 1992.
Along with other gold-heavy quartz pieces, the gold was first believed to be bits of damaged machinery. A number of days later, the materials were examined and found to be full of gold. The “Crown Jewel” was the largest of the pieces, weighing in at 60 lb troy (22.4 kg). The finding of the gold was reported by
The National Enquirer.
The find caused the Gold Trust and Reinsurance company of the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
to make a $20 million offer for the Sonora Mining Corporation of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada. The French government also offered to buy the specimen.
In April 1993, Sonora Mining offered the gold specimen as a bond to
Tuolumne County, California
Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora.
Tuolumne County comprises the ...
. The county ultimately declined the offer.
Many of the smaller specimens of crystalline gold were sold at a
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
gem show.
Display
John Kautz, proprietor of
Ironstone Vineyards
Ironstone Vineyards is a winery that is noted for the production of several leading US wine brands, including Obsession Wines, Leaping Horse Vineyards, Christine Andrew, Stone Valley, and Drifting. As of 2004, Ironstone has been listed as the 17th ...
, purchased the gold specimen in 1994 for an undisclosed price; its appraised value at the time was $3.5 million.
Kautz had the 60 lb troy (22.4 kg) nugget etched with acid to remove most of the quartz; the resulting gold leaf specimen is 44 lbs troy (16.4 kg). A small piece of the original rock was left in the back to show the original matrix.
Kautz opened a museum devoted to the history of gold mining in the area, to display the gold specimen. The museum is in the same building that houses his jewelry store also opened by Kautz. California Governor
George Deukmejian opened the Ironstone's Crown Jewel exhibit.
Name
The name "Ironstone's Crown Jewel" comes from Kautz family's usage and promotional materials for the winery. It is the crown jewel among the historic items at the vineyard and museum.
References
{{reflist
External links
Heritage Museum at Ironstone Vineyards
Precious metals