Get your metal detectors out! $75 million thrown in rubbish!

We've all had that sinking feeling when a valuable receipt has been thrown out or a £10 note has gone into the wash inside a trouser pocket. If you think that was bad, then the story of how a Welsh IT worker accidentally threw away $75 million of Bitcoin will blow you away! Hard-drive binned by mistake In breaking Bitcoin news, James Howells from Newport has revealed how he has lost around 7,500 Bitcoins from an old computer. Howells has stated that he began mining Bitcoin in 2009 when the cryptocurrency was just taking its first steps. At the time, it was possible to mine Bitcoin from a standard computer and Howells did just that, accumulating several thousand by the time he finished. In a tragic mistake though, he mistakenly saw it go to landfill in later years! An expensive clear-out After giving up Bitcoin mining, the laptop Howells had used was broken into parts and sold on eBay. He did, however, keep the all-important hard drive at his house which had his digital files on containing the mined Bitcoins and the all-important private access keys. These keys are vital to be able to use or sell your Bitcoins - without these codes, they are useless. During a home tidy-up in 2013, Welshman Howells mistakenly threw out the hard drive with all his Bitcoins on and it is now thought to be in the local Council landfill site, buried deep underground. Seeing the price of Bitcoin soar this year, Howells is now desperate to locate his old hard drive and claim his $75 million. Application for excavation underway The latest development in this story is that he is applying to Newport Council to be allowed to excavate the landfill site he believes the hard drive to be buried in. Although this would be very complicated and costly, the potential $75 million he could find would make it worthwhile! Failing that, it might be a case of him getting his metal detector out and seeing if he can track it down manually. If you are passing Newport and fancy a $75 million windfall, you could try yourself!