When Bill Collin's septic tank caved in behind his farm house, it seemed like the last straw after a year of ruined crops and hard times. But in replacing the tank last fall, he found what most people only dream of -- buried treasure!

Bill and his wife Doris, of Albion, Ill., had decided to dig out around the old tank themselves to save money on installation of a new tank. Collins was digging just below the surface, in a spot only 20 ft. behind his back door, when he found the treasure. Seventy-five $20 gold coins originally valued at more than $1.5 million.

The coins were dated from 1850 to 1860, leading nearly everyone in Albion to conclude that the money had been buried there by a miner called "Applegate" who had "struck it rich" in the California Gold Rush of 1849, and later settled on what is now the Collins place. Applegate had told townspeople when his house burned that he wasn't worried about losing his money because it "was buried".

Unfortunately, he died, and without telling anyone where it was buried. Ever since, treasure hunters have scoured the area digging for the hidden gold.

When the story first broke, a Chicago coin dealer was quoted as saying the coins were valued at between $2,600 and $20,000 apiece. It turn out they were worth considerably less. In fact, the Collins family sold the first 25 coins for $16,000, an average of $640 each. With the money, they put in a new septic system and used the balance to make a "hefty" payment on their farm mortgage.