Sierra County Backs More Insurance for Its Gold

DOWNIEVILLE – Sierra County supervisors backed higher insurance coverage for the county’s 159 gold nuggets on November 3, after plans to move the collection during maintenance at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County prompted a closer look at its protection.

Personnel Director and Risk Manager Judi Behlke said the nuggets’ previous policy offered $1 million in coverage, but she estimated the collection’s 1,000.043 ounces of gold at $4.29 million based on the collection’s melt value at market gold prices. Behlke asked the museum to raise the coverage to match her estimate.

The museum agreed to an increase, Behlke told supervisors, who supported her action by consensus. She speculated the collection may be more valuable than its weight in gold alone due to the uniqueness of the nuggets.

The review began with an October 28 notice from the museum that a fire sprinkler upgrade in the Gem and Mineral Hall was scheduled to begin November 2 and finish in early to mid-December. The museum said the county’s collection would be removed from its display, stored securely at the museum, and returned to the gallery when the work was complete.

Behlke said the prospect of moving the nuggets into storage and back heightened her concern about the coverage. She also told the board that the museum had advised her that obtaining an appraisal was the county’s responsibility. Supervisors directed her to explore how to arrange one.

The gold remains on loan from Sierra County. A loan extension signed July 23 by Treasurer-Tax Collector Jenny Varn runs through June 30, 2027.

The collection came from the Ruby Mine between Alleghany and Downieville, where mining crews recovered the nuggets in the 1930s. The largest nugget weighs more than 52 troy ounces.

The mine’s owner, Clarence Leo Best, was also a co-founder and the first chairman of Caterpillar. The county bought the collection from his widow, Irene, in 1952 for $32,013.38, according to a 1987 San Francisco Chronicle account.

The nuggets became a traveling exhibit at fairs before security concerns led to bank-vault storage, Supervisor Lee Adams told the board. He recalled a display at the Old Mint in San Francisco and later arrangements with Los Angeles County to exhibit the collection. Los Angeles County also paid for a replica of the collection that is displayed in the lobby of the Sierra County Courthouse in Downieville, he said.

For Supervisor Sharon Dryden, the insurance discussion raised a question about where the real collection ought to be displayed.

“I’m just wondering why is this not in the state Capitol in Sacramento and it’s in a museum in Los Angeles?” she asked.

Adams said the county had explored Sacramento locations and the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, hoping to bring the collection closer to home. The cost of establishing a suitable display had been an obstacle, he said. He invited interest from an institution able to exhibit the gold appropriately.

Dryden urged Adams to continue discussions about a place in the Capitol while Behlke worked on the appraisal and insurance.

“I think it belongs in the Capitol,” Dryden said.