It was fairly big news in the UK when somebody announced he had thrown away a hard-drive containing 10,000 coins. He considered searching through the dump but didn't bother in the end.
It wasn't just a trash can, it was an actual garbage dump site he'd have to search through. Chances of finding something there are slim I'd say. IIRC there was a photo with the article of the guy standing at a dump site - not sure if he didn't actually go look for it a bit and gave up when the reality of the situation hit him.