Pulled from a sunken trunk at an 1857 shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina, work pants that auction officials describe as the oldest known pair of jeans in the world have sold for $114,000.
for more than a century in the ship’s wreckage 7,200 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean included the purser’s keys to the treasure room where tons of Gold Rush coins and assayers ingots were stored. It sold for $103,200.has been sold since shipwreck recovery began in 1988. But last Saturday marked the first time any artifacts hit the auction block. Another auction is planned in February.
The unique mix of artifacts from high society San Franciscans to blue-collar workers piqued the interest of historians and collectors alike. The pants came from the trunk of an Oregon man, John Dement, who served in the Mexican-American War.“At the end of the day, nobody can say these are or are not Levi’s with 100% certainty,” Manley said. But “these are the only known Gold Rush jean ... not present in any collection in the world.
She said before the auction that the shipwreck pants have no company branding — no “patches, buttons or even rivets, the innovation patented in 1873.” Levi Strauss & Co. has long maintained that up until 1873, the company was strictly a wholesaler and did no manufacturing of clothing.
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