The Biggest Piece of Gold You'll Ever See

Last weekend, we were in California's "Gold Rush" Area of Calaveras County and took a side trip to see the Ironstone Winery in Murphy, California.  About 15 miles away from the winery, the Sonora Mining Corporation found the largest pocket of crystalline leaf gold.  The surprising thing for me was that this was not discovered in 1849, or even in the 1800's but in 1992.  In fact December 26, 1992.

How is this for a piece:

Marty, Elena, Pam and I went to see Ironstone Winery last weekend.  While we waited for the tour of the winery to begin, we dawdled in the Heritage museum.

One thing I liked was the Wells Fargo strong boxes.

The area's most famous/infamous stage coach robber, Black Bart, also liked the strong boxes and was active in the area from his first holdup in 1875. He became Wells Fargo's Most Wanted Man until his capture in 1883.

Over in the corner of the museum was the massive vault and the gold.

Obviously, this was the centerpiece of the museum and the impressive 44-pound piece of gold.  Hard to comprehend.

Inside the vault, you could go in and walk around the display that was heavily alarmed and covered in a glass case.

Though the museum is not a large one by many standards, it certainly full of interesting artifacts.  We only spent a few minutes in the museum and jewelry store but it was a fun one and a great start to our time at Ironstone Vineyards.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!