The original case setting precedent for all "buried treasure" cases within the US.
It argues for an intuitive understanding of what we all comprehend, that if you find something, neglected, disregarded, undiscovered, - it's yours. This is different than, say, discovering gold on a claim held by another where clearly the owner knew it was there (hence the claim) and merely wanted time to extract said gold. This is largely a grey area in parts of Europe (and Canada) where treasure can be seized by the Crown or government on various pretexts, or by property owners (most metal detectorists will reach an understanding with the landowner), or simply outright forbid collection with laws surrounding paleontology, minerals and archeology - AKA old treasures).
Anyways, a good article on a topic that I find interesting.