Alaska Belt Buckle, ca. 1975
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GUEST:
I got it at an auction, uh, two, three years ago. It's all Alaska gold and mammoth ivory, and, of course, there are some diamonds -
APPRAISER:
Can I ask you what you paid for it?
GUEST:
Uh, I think about $5,700.
APPRAISER:
It's a belt buckle. It's rather large. Of course, I threw it on the scale.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
You almost broke my scale.
GUEST:
(laughing)
APPRAISER:
There's five troy ounces of gold here. A substantial amount of gold.
GUEST:
(chuckles)
APPRAISER:
These nuggets, they're soldered to a base of gold. So even though it looks like they're all just laid in there, it's a lot of work and labor. You got this nice embellishment of a twist wire. I love this part, that this is mastodon tusk. Could be mammoth tusk. At first, I thought it was wood.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
But tusk is such a thing in, in Alaska. All the elements here, except for the diamonds, are truly from Alaska. So then you have this beautifully executed frame, and it has nice form and shape. It's riveted on, which shows extra care that the jeweler gave it. I love the little bit of engraving on the corners. Just everywhere you look, it, it's got this beautiful little sign of quality and that somebody took care making this. Alaskan gold nuggets, on average, are around 90% pure, or...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...22-karat. These deposits occur mainly in quartz, and what happens is, the, the quartz breaks off into streambeds and whatnot. And when you're panning for gold, you know, a lot of what comes up is flakes. So nuggets are a little more sought-after. Gold was discovered early on in Alaska, actually, by the Russians in the Kenai River area in 1849. And then there's more gold found in 1861.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And then after that, you have, the city of Juneau was named after Joseph Juneau in 1880. There's a huge find of gold there. But w, w, with all this action going on, and all th, this gold discovery going on, the big one is 1896 Klondike. And that's when the frenzy really takes hold, and, and the gold rush starts, and people just start coming in. In the center, I love the fact that it has the state of Alaska. It's just so over the top.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Approximately five carats in diamonds in the center.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This is bling before the word existed.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
You have any idea of maybe a time period when you think this may have, came into existence?
GUEST:
Uh, probably during the pipeline days, I would think.
APPRAISER:
Which is what year, roughly?
GUEST:
The '70s?
APPRAISER:
It's just so great. I love it-- I want to wear it.
(both laughing)
GUEST:
Well, I can't wear it, I'm too fat.
(both laughing)
APPRAISER:
This is so Alaskan that, in the right auction, I think something like this could be $20,000 to $40,000.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm. (chuckles) That's a little more than I was thinkin’.
(both laughing)
APPRAISER:
You, you got that gleam in your eye, and, you know, that, that's what gold does to people.
GUEST:
(laughing)
APPRAISER:
There's something about it, right?
GUEST:
Well, that's for sure.
APPRAISER:
Yep.
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