A Hellenistic Gold Pendant, ca. 3rd - 1st century BCE

of high karat gold, the hollow pendant of acorn form with gold bands at the shoulder and rim, and loop for attachment at the top. Strung on a modern gold chain.

Dimensions: Height: 2.3 cm (.9 inches)

Condition: Denting on the body, a small break to the back, some calcium carbonate/soil encrustation, otherwise intact and in good condition overall.   

Provenance: Vernon Pick (1903 - 1986) private collection assembled in Switzerland in the late 1950s and then by descent to Pick's nephew, Mr. Jim Hanson, Minnesota.   Vernon Pick, a middle-aged electrician from Minnesota, turned uranium prospecting into a multimillion-dollar proposition.  After nine months of fruitless prospecting, Pick discovered uranium 75 miles southwest of Green River, in Emery County in Utah on June 21, 1952.  He staked several claims and called them the Delta mines.  In Utah, he proved up 300,000 tons of ore that Time magazine called “one of the richest finds in the Colorado Plateau.”. Two years later Pick sold his mine to international financier Floyd Odlum for $9 million and a custom-converted PBY airplane. Odlum renamed the mine the Hidden Splendor, but soon after his purchase the highly touted vein pinched out. Local wags then dubbed the mine "Odlum's Hidden Blunder."