The Hand of Faith is a special gold nugget on display at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas. This highly valuable specimen travelled a long way to get there.
The Hand of Faith was originally found in Australia – which has a famous reputation for gold nuggets. The country even named one of it’s bullion coins the “Australian Gold Nugget.” Kevin Hillier discovered the Hand with his metal detector near Kingower, Victoria in 1980. His metal detector must have been shooting off the charts when it passed over the famous nugget. The Hand of Faith was only about a foot beneath the ground, resting in a vertical position – almost like hands together, fingers pointed in prayer. When excavated, the nugget was a whopping 874.82 troy ounces.
Shortly after its discovery, the Hand of Faith was auctioned off and the Golden Nugget casino put in the winning bid, which was speculated to be about $1 million. According to present day gold prices, the Hand of Faith may be worth as much as $1.4 million, depending on its millesimal fineness.
Currently, the Golden Nugget proudly displays the Hand Faith for all its guests. It holds the world record for largest gold nugget ever discovered by a metal detector.
