Of all the forms taken by gold, nuggets generate the greatest excitement and, at times, the most discussion. While nuggets have been found in gold fields in most Australian states and in others around the world, those from Victoria were particularly large and abundant.

From the time of the first gold rushes in the early 1850s, the discovery of large nuggets aroused such exhilaration that news spread far and wide. Thousands of people from around the world migrated to Victoria, dreaming of making their fortunes on goldfields dripping, so they hoped, with nuggets. The records are undoubtedly incomplete, but more than 1200 nuggets weighing over 620 grams (20 troy ounces*) had been documented up until about 1910. The largest of all, the Welcome Stranger nugget (2316 troy ounces or about 72 kg) was uncovered on a bush track near Moliagul in 1869. The second largest, the Welcome (2218 troy ounces or about 71.3 kg), was found in 1858 on Bakery Hill at Ballarat, in an alluvial gutter at a depth of 55 metres.