Gold Rush-era gold nugget worth more than $80k stolen from Long Beach collectibles show
LONG BEACH, California (KCAL, KCBS) — A gold nugget worth an estimated $82,000 was stolen from a collectibles show earlier this week in Long Beach and police are seeking the public’s help in locating the thief.
It happened on Thursday at around 11:45 a.m. at the Long Beach Expo’s Collectibles Show, according to Long Beach Police Department officers investigating the matter.
“It’s worth way more than the gold you can melt down,” said Bob Campbell, owner of All About Coins Inc.
He says that on top of the dollar value, the nugget has significant value to California since it was discovered in the Yolo River during the Gold Rush.
“It was probably an 1849 remnant, so it’s been around in people’s care for the last 175 years,” Campbell said. “Very few nuggets have survived, most of them have been melted down.”
Surveillance footage from inside of the expo show the moment that Campbell thinks the nugget was stolen. It shows as he leans on Campbell’s booth briefly before quickly walking away.
“He was able to get a finger underneath the lip of the case,” Campbell said. “Which then, he actually flexed the case open where he could get his hand in there.”
Campbell was handing out fliers at the show on Saturday, hopeful that someone could help identify him and alert investigators. He’s offering a $10,000 reward in return for information that helps him getting the valuable nugget back in his possession.
“Everybody says, ‘Oh, he’s covered under insurance.’ I don’t have insurance — I eat it,” Campbell said. “So, we’ll just move on, go forward, you know, do our best to try to do justice. The rest of our coin dealer friends, we would love to have this guy get caught.”
Anyone with further information is asked to contact LBPD.