$82,000 Gold Nugget Stolen From Long Beach Coin Show

We guess gold demand really is picking up...

In Long Beach this past week, a monster-sized gold nugget that is worth $82,000 was stolen from a coin expo and now, ironically, $10,000 is being offered as a reward for its safe return, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles. 

Bob Campbell, a Utah-based coin dealer and owner of the gold nugget, reported a theft at his booth, captured by security cameras. The video revealed a man exploiting a flaw in the display case to steal the nugget, which weighs about 27 ounces.

"He's trying locks, looks to see who's watching," Campell told Fox watching the video. 

Approximately 30 seconds after tampering with the case, the thief concealed the nugget, casually checked his surroundings, and left the scene.

Campbell said this incident marks his most significant loss at a coin show, emphasizing not just the monetary worth of the gold, but its historical value as well.

The nugget, unearthed during the California Gold Rush near the Oregon border, is a rare survivor from a time when most such finds were melted down.

With the nugget's unique history at risk of being lost if melted down, Campbell is hopeful that public recognition of the thief from the footage will lead to the recovery of the artifact.

He concluded, lamenting: "The bigger the nugget, the more they're worth. It's not uncommon to see them go for two, three, even four times the gold value."