When he discovered it, Vincent Thurkettle said, “It was a mаɡісаɩ moment when I realized it was a huge nugget,” speechless at his good foгtᴜпe.
After a 60-year-old man discovered a portion of a £120 million treasure find, enthusiastic treasure seekers are swarming to a beach in the UK.
Vincent Thurkettle was stunned to find the incredible 97.12g nugget of gold worth £50,000 – about the size of a chicken egg.
It is believed to be part of a £120million haul of gold which went down with the Royal Charter when it was shipwrecked during a hurricane in 1859.
It was gleaming at him in a crevice on the sea bed off the coast of Anglesey in Wales.
Britain’s biggest ever gold nugget, shown next to a 5p coin for scale (
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The nugget is believed to be part of a £120million haul of gold which went down with the Royal Charter when it was shipwrecked during a hurricane in 1859
The incredible find is almost twice as heavy as the UK’s second biggest nugget, which was found in Cornwall more than 200 years ago in 1808.
Vincent Thurkettle said ‘I was absolutely stunned when I first saw the nugget’ (
Image:
Geoff Robinson)
“I was absolutely stunned when I first saw the nugget. The sun was out so the gold was gleaming and because it was under water it was magnified, so it looked huge,” he said.
“I was really only expecting to find gold dust so I couldn’t believe it when I realised it was a huge nugget, it was a magical moment.
“My first thought was that I had only ever seen nuggets like it in a museum.
Vincent Thurkettle off the coast of Anglesey
“I didn’t want to touch it at first, just to savour the extraordinary moment and burn into my memory how beautiful it looked.
“It was stuck in a crevice and as it lay where nature had hidden it, the nugget reminded me of a Faberge egg. When I picked it up it was surprisingly heavy.”
Vincent Thurkettle found this in Anglesey, Wales
It was found about five metres below the water and around 40 metres from the famous Royal Charter shipwreck, which sank just to the north of the village of Moelfre on the north east coast of Anglesey on October 26, 1859.
The ship, which was bound for Liverpool, was carrying gold from Australia .
Around 450 people are believed to have died in the disaster.
