Nail in Quartz

In 1851, Hiram de Witt, of Springfield, Massachusetts, accidentally dropped a fist sized piece of gold bearing quartz that he had brought back from California. The rock broke apart in the fall, and inside it de Witt found a 2" cut iron nail, slightly corroded. "It was entirely straight and had a perfect head," reported The Times of London.

(The Times, London, December 24, 1851)