After visiting Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan, one thing was clear. There are more jewelry stores in each city than in New York City.
Don’t laugh, besides those catering to nothing but jewelry, most of the tourist themed stores have jewelry counters in them, all larger than one sees in, say, a Kolh’s, and there is always a section devoted to “Alaskan Gold Nuggets.”
I browsed several stores in each port. With one exception, they all lied right to my face. All, except the one store, told me their nuggets were Alaskan Gold and 24k. Not even nuggets not showing visible quarts or other minerals are 24k gold. Most gold nuggets are 21k, or 87.5% pure. Some can run 95%, but don’t hold your breath.
I guess they thought I was the average tourist, but, well, I know a thing or six about finding nuggets and knowing their worth. I’ve done my share of prospecting. I even spent time mining in Nome on the GPAA claim. I learned a lot while there and read even more before and after going.
In Juneau, I was shown a 26+ gram nugget. That translates to over 8 tenths of a Troy oz. The tag on the nugget said it was appraised at $7,500. Wait… What? The bail was 14k set with a small diamond, so one could assume the diamond played a part to some extent. But $7,500 worth?
Google and Bing beg to differ. Say $500, and I’m being generous. And there sure as hell, wasn’t $7,000 in gold there even at 24k purity.
The good news is the store wasn’t asking for the appraised value. Tourist are, well, not that dumb and they know it.
So, what is almost a Troy ounce gold nugget worth? Depends.
As I said, you have to do your homework. First, you have to know the current spot price of gold. Easy enough, just ask your Smart Phone for the current spot price from KITCO. This gets you into the ball park. The spot price is the starting line for buying gold. What percentage over spot is the race and finishing first is your only goal.
KITCO told me the price was around $1,277 a Toz. Okay next you divide the price by the number of grams in a Troy ounce, 31.104 and get $41 a gram, Okay S41.06 a gram. But nuggets are rare and as individual as snowflakes, so, that adds value. But, how much value? Depends. Size, weight, shape, even where it was found are all factors in accessing value, but not as much as you would think.
That last, where it was found, adds value, but only if the weight is such that the nugget ranks high on the list of large nuggets found in the area and state, and face it, if you are looking in a tourist trap for near record weight, you’re really are the rube they think you are.
The asking price was $4,000 and change, or over $154 a gram. Back when I was in Nome, the spot price worked out about $8 a gram for bullion gold. So, depending on the nugget you would expect to pay about $12 a gram. For a really nice nugget up to $16 a gram. But for a nugget over a troy ounce, $20 a gram was not unreasonable. Doing the math, this nugget was worth up to $82 a gram or just over $2,100. But, was it worth paying at the high end? In my opinion, no. Why? I used the word opinion for a reason. Backing up my opinion is like explaining art.
The seller knew he was not going to get his asking price. He pulled out a calculator and started his spiel, I wasn’t buying, just looking, so I excused myself.
In Ketchikan things got interesting. Then heated. You see, I was shown the exact same nugget and bail setting. The nugget was the same shape, the same weight, and the same bail with the same diamond setting. Even the same appraised value. At least he didn’t try to say the nugget was 24k.
I told him the price was much too high for a nugget that was less than a troy ounce, and quoted him a more reasonable value based on the current spot price of gold. He didn’t argue.
He wasn’t expecting my next statement and it lit him up. I told him even at that price I would not buy a manmade nugget. He took immediate offence, but in a calm voice told me, “Sir, we sell only genuine Alaska mined nuggets, to do anything else would get us sued.”
“I’m not going to sue, I’m just telling you that this nugget is fake, its manmade.” I responded.
“Sir, that’s not possible.”
I shrugged my shoulders, “Look, I know I just got off the ship, but it wasn’t the Stupid Ship. I’m telling you that nugget is manmade and I know this because I saw the exact same nugget and setting in Juneau yesterday at this same named store. Natural identical nuggets are impossible.”
I walked away. Arguing with him was not a good use of my time and it is possible he didn’t know it was manmade. If he did, he couldn’t admit it for legal reasons. I’d made my point.
One more thing about prices with nuggets under an ounce. Spot plus up to 70% is reasonable. If the nugget really hits you, such as it is shaped like your favorite shape, go to spot plus 100%.
Again, as I said, do your homework if you are looking for real Alaskan nuggets. I do know the Alaska Mint can be trusted. I have dealt with then before and their reputation is exceptional. Are their prices in violation of what I have spent 900 plus words to explain?Depends. You can buy gold from 10% over spot to $110 a gam for nuggets weighing well over a ounce Troy. Wait, what? $110 a gram? I am talking about over one-ounce weights. Again, I have done my homework. Their nuggets are mapped out, the miners they deal with are respected.
Keep this bit of information in mind, the current largest surviving nugget, the Hand of Faith, is valued at about $3,000,000 and weighs 27,241.82 grams, or just over $110 a gram. So, why pay more any nugget?