buried treasure

plural buried treasures

1. countableidiomaticuncountableSomething valuable that is concealed for a long time and then rediscovered.

   The verdict on whether Borderlands is buried treasure or fool's gold will come down when it hits later this year.

   2009 June 9, “E3 2009: The Five: Borderlands”, in Crispy Gamer

   1 more example

   Hastings draws on her own experience of overcoming writing blocks as a college student to support her belief that anyone can learn to write well. "The trick is to find buried treasure in our work," she said. Her own teachers in junior and senior high school, didn't critique her writing, said Hastings, who grew up on a farm near Pawnee, Okla. It wasn't until she wrote a paper in college, at the University of Oklahoma, that she started to understand how to write well.

   2005 May 24, Foss Farrar, “Hastings found buried treasure in students' work”, in Arkansas City Traveler

2. countableuncountableUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see buried, treasure.

   The buried treasure from the shipwreck was found yesterday.