Gold Shop owner Cordell Kent saw the silver and ivory presentation trowel and matching gavel on an auctioneer’s catalogue and informed council, who authorised him to bid on their behalf.

The winning bid was $4,340.

Ballarat Mayor Des Hudson took possession of the trowel and gavel on Friday at the Mining Exchange.

“This trowel will be on display at the Mining Exchange, for people to see. It’s great to have it back after 129 years,” says Mr Hudson.

The trowel is still its original presentation case. It is made of Birmingham silver and ivory. Trowels and other miniature implements have been a common gift on the occasion of openings and ceremonial stone layings for hundreds of years.

“There’s potential for other trowels to be returned to Ballarat,” says the mayor.

“The trowel from the laying of the Town Hall and other significant buildings. We need to investigate what trowels we do have and those that are missing.”

The foundation stones of the Mining Exchange, The Art Gallery and the Old Colonists Club were all laid on the same day, the occasion of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, June 21, 1887.

The man who received the trowel, Thomas Stoddart, was a great public benefactor of Ballarat, most famously for presenting 12 marble statues to the Botanic Gardens. He proposed moving the Stock Exchange from Sturt to Lydiard Street – and then moved his business in upstairs.

Mining Exchanging Gold Shop owner Cordell Kent says his love of goldfields memorabilia and a tip off led him to the trowel. 

“I saw it and I thought ‘Ballarat’s got to have this’,” says Mr Kent.

“It’s a fine specimen. It’s unusual because the silver trowel was made in Birmingham, not Australia, which is a bit disappointing, but it’s still a magnificent piece. To have it retained in such good order, and its association with Stoddart, is fabulous.”