Blanche Barkly Nugget Print Page

The cairn commemorates the discovery of the Blanche Barkly Nugget in 1857. The nugget was named for the daughter of the governor of the colony at the time.

In August 1857, Robert and James Ambrose and Samuel and Charles Napier discovered the nugget, which at that time was the world's largest gold nugget, weighing in at 1743 ounces. The Blanche Barkly remains the third largest gold nugget ever discovered to this day.

Sam Napier reported that it was taken to England and displayed at The Crystal Palace, that the British Museum made a replica, and that it was ultimately bought by the Bank of England for around £12,000 (equivalent to £1,397,821 in 2021) and melted down to make around 10000 sovereigns.

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