Ole Olsson Løkling (Nøkling) - Email communication about gold

On March 13, 2014, I received the following email in response to a query I had made about a story passed down the generations in my family about Ole having found gold and using it to repair a shoe.
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Hello Mr. Victor Engel,

Your mail was passed on to me, since I have written a book on the gold miners on Lykling.
There are three names given, by different sources, to whom found the first nugget in Lykling:

Ole Olsen Nøkling, who later settled in Nøstbakken in Bømlo (Moster), and worked as a shoemaker. A gravestone in Moster have the name of Ole Olsen Nøkling, b. 1845 d 1918. This must be your Ole. The late local author and fisherman Birger Røksund said that Ole told him about the gold he once found in Lykling.

Two other contemporary sources, working in the mines in the 1880’s, says in their memoirs that the name of the finder was «Jakob Nilsen Løkling». A couple of years ago a woman called me and said this was her grandfather, and that their family-cronicle says he was the finder.

The third name is Jakob Nilson Lykling, who came back from Stavanger to dig for gold in 1884. This could be same man as nr. two, just written slightly different.

What happened to the gold; one story says a copper-miner in the area took it, or got it, from the boy who found it. This miner later sold it to the governmental mining-agent Dahl who inspected the area some short time later. This is documented, the governmental agent bought it for 2 spesiedaler. Another contemporary source says the flattened gold was thrown in «napakassen» at home, I guess that is where all kinds of maybe-useful things ends, until the finder "some time later brougt it to the city (?) by curiosity."

Thats all I know. Your story might be the right one, but as you see it is difficult to be 100% sure. One thing that is a bit "annoying» to me is that in 1862 there should not be copper-miners here. That «trade» started in 1864, two years later. Could there be two finders? One in 1862, and another one in 1864?

Best regards from

BRYNJAR STAUTLAND
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5437 FINNÅS

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