Gold Nugget, Alaska.Photo Heritage Auctions

As anyone who has watched popular television over the past year can attest, there is Gold in Alaska.

They can also state with some degree of confidence that most of it is in the form of fine grains. Big nuggets over an ounce are few and far between, which makes this one a whopper.

Like many nuggets, there are rusty traces of the original host rock still present in crevices and recesses of this massive chunk.

It fits the hand very comfortably: something the buyer may not want to mention to the TSA screeners at the airport. At 465.1 grams or 14.95 ounces, this brassy beauty weighs over one Troy Pound (1 pound 2.95 ounces Troy to be exact).

It measures a compact 3 x 1.5 inches (7.83 x 3.76 cm). [Scale: 1 inch, with mark at 1 cm]. Estimated Price: $45,000 - $50,000

Heritage Auctions. 2013 June 2 Natural History Signature Auction Session 2. Phone: 800.872.6467 - Email: Bid@HA.com