While the Welcome Stranger is the largest gold nugget ever found, the biggest single gold specimen discovered on the planet is the Holtermann 'Nugget'.

Unearthed in October 1872 by German-born miner Bernhardt Holtermann at Hill End in New South Wales, Australia, the gold-embedded-in-quartz specimen weighed a staggering 10,229 ounces (290kg). The rock was valued at £12,000, which is £1.7 million ($2.5m) in today's money, before it was crushed and the gold extracted.

Liked this? Click the Like button above. And click the Follow button above for more great stories from loveEXPLORING

Read on for evocative vintage images from gold rushes around the world

The world's biggest gold nuggets and where they were found