While clearing earth with a bulldozer at an Alaskan mine, a miner stumbled upon a massive gold nugget weighing nearly 9 kilograms, which was later recognized as the largest intact natural gold nugget ever found in Alaska.

In 1998, miner Barry Clay was operating machinery in the Swift Creek area near the Alaskan town of Ruby.

At one point during his work, he noticed a heavy object in the mound of earth pushed by his bulldozer.

Although he initially mistook it for an ordinary rock, Clay walked over to examine it more closely.

Upon cleaning it off, he realized it was not a rock at all, but a massive natural nugget composed of gold and quartz.

Weighing in at 294.10 troy ounces—just over 20 pounds, or approximately 9.14 kilograms—the nugget became known as the "Alaska Centennial Nugget."

Roughly the size of a child's head, it was at the time the second-largest gold nugget ever found in the Western Hemisphere, surpassed only by the roughly 24-pound "Boot of Cortez" discovered in Mexico in 1989.

The nugget was named to commemorate the centennial of the historic Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska.

State officials subsequently confirmed it as the largest intact gold nugget ever recovered in the state.

Clay did not sell the nugget immediately upon its discovery. It remained in private hands for over two decades.

In 2021, media reports revealed that a dealer who acquired the nugget from Clay put it up for sale through Heritage Auctions in Dallas, United States.

An online collector ultimately purchased the gold nugget for $750,000.

However, experts note that the significance of the nugget extends far beyond its sheer monetary value; natural gold nuggets of this size and in such pristine condition are exceptionally rare.

Prior to the auction, a Heritage spokesperson emphasized, "The Alaska Centennial Gold Nugget is the largest gold nugget ever found in the state, discovered by Barry Clay in 1998 in the Swift Creek area near Ruby."