Syndyne
Shaun Galman
Hi guys,
Here's something I think you'll appreciate, and possibly remember as it's one of the great and most unfortunate nugget mysteries. We are actually involved in this story partly.
The Pride Of Australia Nugget
"The Pride of Australia', unearthed in Wedderburn in 1981, is one nugget that will probably never be seen again. Weighing eight kilograms, it was bought by the State Bank of Victoria and donated to the state for Victoria's 150th anniversary. Held at the Melbourne Museum, it was stolen in a raid in 1991. The thieves were never caught and was probably melted down and sold."
Due to our involvement in mineral trading/collecting of all sorts over several decades, as well as owning an opal shop in town called Sunset Opals (that is still here and operated today by Linda Milas who purchased it from us during in the 1984-85 market crash). We were privileged enough to encounter the owner (who's name we can't recall from memory) of the nugget soon after it was unearthed as he was trying to sell or swap it for opal at the time. He was asking $90,000 back then and would've been a bargain compared to today's prices!
I remember we had a large dark laminate dining table and he wanted to put it down to show us but my Mum refused and he then replied saying: "Don't worry, If it gets scratched I'll just buy you a new table.".
Just chatting with my Dad and Uncle about it earlier and they both regret not making the purchase and just leaving it in a safety deposit box over the years.
It's funny in a way that it ended up such a sad tale, getting stolen and possibly melted down. That just may have well been avoided if my father Alan and uncle Dave had played their cards right. We still have plenty of photos of it at least. The owner also had two other nuggets for sale, both a bit over an ounce in size that were full of crystalline gold structures so I'll post a photo taken of the slides of those. We never bought those either.
My family has made some very bad mistakes in hindsight over the years and I know it tends to get to them a bit at times when they reflect on the past. I'm lucky to be apart of it from a kind of 'spectator looking in' view as a young kid and didn't have the responsibility of adding to any losses or gains back then. I think simply learning from their mistakes has made me the person I am today. After all is said and done the stories are just a great sometimes. We have countless stories to tell that's for sure!
Here's an image of two of our numerous photos. This is my Uncle David Galman holding the nugget and a smaller shot of the nugget in his hands. On the back it says: Pride Of Australia 20-1/4lbs.
Kindest regards,
Shauno.
Nugget and Mods: If this can be placed in another thread please move it to an appropriate thread. I was unsure as where it should go. Not sure where to post the crystalline nugget photo either?
Here's something I think you'll appreciate, and possibly remember as it's one of the great and most unfortunate nugget mysteries. We are actually involved in this story partly.
The Pride Of Australia Nugget
"The Pride of Australia', unearthed in Wedderburn in 1981, is one nugget that will probably never be seen again. Weighing eight kilograms, it was bought by the State Bank of Victoria and donated to the state for Victoria's 150th anniversary. Held at the Melbourne Museum, it was stolen in a raid in 1991. The thieves were never caught and was probably melted down and sold."
Due to our involvement in mineral trading/collecting of all sorts over several decades, as well as owning an opal shop in town called Sunset Opals (that is still here and operated today by Linda Milas who purchased it from us during in the 1984-85 market crash). We were privileged enough to encounter the owner (who's name we can't recall from memory) of the nugget soon after it was unearthed as he was trying to sell or swap it for opal at the time. He was asking $90,000 back then and would've been a bargain compared to today's prices!
I remember we had a large dark laminate dining table and he wanted to put it down to show us but my Mum refused and he then replied saying: "Don't worry, If it gets scratched I'll just buy you a new table.".
Just chatting with my Dad and Uncle about it earlier and they both regret not making the purchase and just leaving it in a safety deposit box over the years.
It's funny in a way that it ended up such a sad tale, getting stolen and possibly melted down. That just may have well been avoided if my father Alan and uncle Dave had played their cards right. We still have plenty of photos of it at least. The owner also had two other nuggets for sale, both a bit over an ounce in size that were full of crystalline gold structures so I'll post a photo taken of the slides of those. We never bought those either.
My family has made some very bad mistakes in hindsight over the years and I know it tends to get to them a bit at times when they reflect on the past. I'm lucky to be apart of it from a kind of 'spectator looking in' view as a young kid and didn't have the responsibility of adding to any losses or gains back then. I think simply learning from their mistakes has made me the person I am today. After all is said and done the stories are just a great sometimes. We have countless stories to tell that's for sure!
Here's an image of two of our numerous photos. This is my Uncle David Galman holding the nugget and a smaller shot of the nugget in his hands. On the back it says: Pride Of Australia 20-1/4lbs.
Kindest regards,
Shauno.
Nugget and Mods: If this can be placed in another thread please move it to an appropriate thread. I was unsure as where it should go. Not sure where to post the crystalline nugget photo either?
