Colonial Gold Bar Brooch with Welcome Stranger Provenance

An antique Colonial yellow gold bar brooch with engraved initials 'J.I.O.' for Jean Isobel Oates, late 19th century, 3.2 cm wide, 2.2 grams. Oates' father, Richard Oates rocketed to fame on the Australian goldfields with the astonishing discovery of the Welcome Stranger gold nugget at Moligul in Victoria in 1869, weighing in at 94.14 kg which equates to a handsome $7,250,000 todays currency. The Welcome Stranger remains the largest alluvial gold nugget ever discovered.. Provenance: Purchased from Richard Oates' granddaughter from Carpenter Street, Bendigo, Victoria, in 1999.