If you like gold, but not necessarily in coin form, then Heritage Auctions has alternate options.

Its 6 p.m. Eastern Time Jan. 8 auction session held in conjunction with the Florida United Numismatists convention at the Tampa Convention Center offers a number of gold nuggets.

The largest chunk weighs 25 grams, or 0.8 troy ounce.

Measuring 23.1 by 20.3 by 14.8 millimeters, the gold nugget shows evidence of tiny pieces of quartz. The example previously sold in The Philadelphia Americana Sale by Stack's Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, 2010, where it realized $1,035, which included the 10 percent buyer's fee added to the final closing hammer price.

A 24.7-gram gold nugget offered by Heritage that measures 22.8 by 15 by 13 millimeters was also previously sold in The Philadelphia Americana Sale in 2010, where it realized $1,092.50.

Other examples in the Heritage auction include one weighing 17.7 grams, one 13.6 grams, one 20.81 grams, and a second 24.7-gram nugget.

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