Hand of Faith

The Hand of Faith is an 875 troy ounces (27.21 kilograms or 72 Troy pounds 11 Troy ounces) nugget of good-quality gold. It was found on 26 Sep 1980 near Kingower, Victoria, Australia by Kevin Hillier using a metal detector. It was only 12 inches below the surface, resting in a vertical position. The announcement of the discovery, occurred at a press conference, in Melbourne, attended by the Premier of Victoria—Dick Hamer, on 8 Oct 1980. Kovac's Gems & Minerals were appointed agents for the sale of the huge nugget, by the then anonymous finder. It was sold to the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, a casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it is on public display.

It was initially incorrectly stated as weighing only 720 Troy Ozs, but after correction, the new calculation was 874.82 Troy Ozs. This explains why some publications continue to give an incorrect weight. It is still regarded as the largest modern nugget found by a metal detector, anywhere in the world. Dimensions are 47 cm × 20 cm × 9 cm. The sale price was supposedly around $US1m.

The nugget was the 2nd largest nugget found in Australia, during the 20th century. There were numerous nuggets found during the Victorian gold rush era, commencing in the 1850s, that were far larger.