Sep 1, 2013
The Worlds Largest Silver Nugget --- The Big Boulder of Sandon
Discovered by James W. Cockle and his partner in 1892 while prospecting near Sandon, British Columbia. At 7-1/2 feet long, 3 feet wide and nine feet high, it weighed 120 tons.
Unfortunately Cockle did not have very good business sense. He sold the boulder for $2,000 to a man who claimed he would exhibit the boulder at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, with Cockle earning a share of the profits. Instead the man cheated him, breaking up the bolder and selling it to smelters and refineries, making a profit of over $20,000.