Treasure in your own backyard?

It’s never that easy, is it?

We usually see treasure being found by a hobbyist treasure hunter with his or her metal detector in hand and all the right equipment after hours, days and weeks of combing a certain area.

Or even a caravan of archaeologists jetting off to remote locations, searching through historical sites in hopes of uncovering valuable objects.

But for one lucky married couple in Sierra, Nevada, this discovery literally happened while the couple was out walking their dog in their backyard—something that the couple does daily.

Cans of Gold

During their walk, the couple saw the top of a rusted can sticking out of the ground. Using a stick, they were able to dig out a total of eight cans.

In each can, amidst the dirt that came through holes rusted in each, they were shocked to find gold coins.

The breakdown of the find is as follows: 1,373 of the coins were $20 coins, 50 of the coins were $10 coins, and four were $5 coins.

Coins Worth Millions

The couple waited two months before contacting anyone about the treasure.

They got in touch with local coin dealer Don Kagin to learn more about the coins, find out their worth, and for help selling them.

Don found that most of the coins were minted in San Francisco between the years of 1847 and 1894.

To the couple’s amazement, although the face value of the coins was $27,980, the actual worth fell somewhere between $10 million and $540 million.

What did they do with all of that money?

After paying off debt, the couple decided to give the rest to various local charities.

When it comes to finding buried treasure, you never know where it might be, whether in your backyard or a potato field.