#20. Field Work
Deep into the Australian outback, a man with his brand new $10,000 metal detector was searching for some valuable minerals when something made the detector go crazy.
The prospector's hopes weren't up and he decided to walk away But a question was raised into his mind: "what if". He then decided to dig.
#19. An Old Horseshoe?
The prospector dug and found a rather strange looking object that seemed to be of none great price. It was looking like a sweet potato, an old horseshoe.
But why did his metal detector beeping like crazy? Was it malfunctioning?
#18. 12-Inches-Below The Ground
The strange object was buried 12-inches below the ground and after unearthing it the man decided to investigate it further.;I thought it was rubbish at first, maybe an old horseshoe, the man told Minelab, the manufacturer of the metal detector.
About 12 inches below the ground, I could just barely make out the top of something.
#17. Once In A Lifetime
When the man realized what he had just found he almost fainted.
He couldn't believe his eyes. It was a once in a lifetime discovery that he would surely make him want to keep his identity a secret. "I really couldn't believe my eyes," he said. "This wasn't an old piece of steel in front of me."
#16. A Giant Gold Nugget
The man had just unearthed a giant golden nugget! There was no precedent of such a colossal gold nugget found before. The man decided to name his precious finding "Friday's Joy".
But what happened next? The answer isn't something that you'd expect.I had just unearthed a colossal gold nugget a once-in-a-lifetime find! I was in total disbelief as I didn't think nuggets of this size were still around.
#15. Thousand Years Old Hobby
People have been searching for gold almost from the beginning of our civilization because of the great value that it holds through the time.
The world's oldest gold findings were discovered in Bulgaria's Varna Necropolis.
#14. Gold Rushes
Such findings always attract people that ambitiously try to find any remaining pieces of precious gold.
Ancient Rome and probably Ancient Egypt as well as California are known for their "gold rush" periods some of which carved the culture of their land.
#13. Australia's Gold Rush
Australia seems to experience her very own gold rush nowadays.
In 2016 #13 billion worth of gold were mined and there are rumors that there is more in the area. That has probably attracted the lucky man of our story.
#12. The Golden Triangle
The man found Friday's Joy in an area that was meticulously searched by hobbyists and professional prospectors.
It is known as the Golden Triangle that contains historical mining towns like Bendingo and Ballarat. The man was searching in an area near the triangle's south side.
#11. Famous Among Miners
It appears that the area is famous among prospectors but because it has already been scanned multiple times only hobbyist miners approach the area anymore.
"Victoria's Golden Triangle region is famous for the purity, the large size, and the quantity of gold nuggets found, It is probably one of the most popular Victorian gold bearing areas to be frequented by today's modern electronic prospectors."
#10. Secret Identity
The prospector that found Friday's Joy decided to keep his identity a secret to protect him from any trouble that his finding could bring onto him.
He admitted to the manufacturers of the detector that he had been trying to find something for over a decade without results. Until that lucky day.
#9. Minelab's GPZ 7000
The man owes his discovery to Minelab. the company that made this expensive yet trustworthy detector. As the company claims:
"The Detector offers the deepest ground penetration and is the most significant advancement in gold detecting technologies in years."
#8. Other Findings
Even though the detector costs a fortune, lucky prospectors quickly cover this expense with one or two gold discoveries.
An other Australian prospector found a 95-ounce nugget called "Fair Dinkum" with a detector made by Minelab.
#7. Made His Money Back
It's obvious at this point that the mysterious man that found the enormous gold nugget made his money back for sure.
Later he admitted to have found an other nugget that was 9 ounces using a Minelab's detector.
#6. World's Largest Gold Nugget
While huge and weighing over 145 ounces, Friday's Joy isn't the biggest gold nugget ever found.
The title belongs to a gold nugget that was found in Victoria in 1869 and weighted an astonishing 173 pounds.
#5. Cindy's Pride
To obtain some perspective, the gold nugget of our story can be compared to Cindy's Pride, a gold nugget that was unearthed in 1985 and was named after the dog of the prospector who found it.
It was sold for over $66,000 which is roughly -adjusted for inflation- over $181,000 in today's money.
#4. Celebrating
Little is known about the man that found Friday's Joy. What we know for sure is that he celebrated his amazing discovery with good friends and a lot of beer.
"It's like catching a big fish and not knowing what to do with it!", he said. "Where do we put it? I washed it in water, covered it in aluminum foil and kept it in my oven on the first night."
#3. Scarcer Than A Diamond
The man secured the nugget into a bank vault and revealed that he will hold an auction for it soon.
High-grade gold nuggets like Friday's Joy are considered collector's items thus they're scarcer than diamonds.
#2. Plans For The Future
Even though the man made a discovery that would most likely make him very wealthy he said that this wasn't the end of his prospector years.
He plans to continue searching for gold throughout Australia with a new van.
#1. Historic Finding
Minelab's director of regional sales and marketing couldn't be happier that a customer of them made such an astonishing discovery. "We're thrilled that a Minelab customer has made such an amazing and important discovery," he said.
He was prospecting in an area that others had clearly worked over, and this just goes to show that there's plenty of gold still coming out of Victoria.