 John Kautz, proprietor of Ironstone Vineyards, purchased the gold specimen in 1994 for an undisclosed price; its appraised value at the time was $3.5 million.Kautz had the 60 lb troy (22.4 kg) nugget etched with acid to remove most of the quartz; the resulting gold leaf specimen is 44 lbs troy (16.4 kg).A small piece of the original rock was left in the back to show the original matrix.