May 30
The Boot of Cortez is the largest surviving natural gold nugget found in the Western Hemisphere. It weighs an astonishing 383.10 troy ounces, 11.9 kg or 26.2 pounds. It is 98% pure gold. It is shaped like a conquistador’s boot. measuring 10¾ in. (27.3 cm) tall × 7¼ in. (18.4 cm) wide.
A prospector discovered “The Boot of Cortez” using a metal detector from Radio Shack while searching for gold in 1989 near Caborca, Mexico, about 70 miles south of the Arizona border and about 60 miles east of the Sea of Cortez in the Mexican state of Sonora.
