Pair of Levi’s from 1880s found by ‘denim archaeologist’ down New Mexico mine shaft sell for $87k
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An 1880s vintage Levi’s found in an abandoned New Mexico mine has sold at auction for a whopping $87,400 — one of the most expensive jeans ever sold.
The jeans, discovered several years ago by denim historian Michael Harris, in an abandoned mine shaft in the American West,
They have been described as the ‘holy grail of vintage denim collecting’ and are said to have been worn by an authentic gold rush-era miner.
They feature suspender buttons on the waistband, selvedge denim badges, a single back pocket and wax flecked over the legs from which the original owner worked by candlelight.
The winning bid was made by Kyle Haupert, 23, a San Diego vintage clothing dealer, at the Durango Vintage Festivus in Colorado on Oct. 1.
“I’m still a bit baffled, just amazed at myself that I even bought them,” Haupert told the Wall Street Journal.
Haupert put in 90 percent of the winning bid, while the other 10 percent was done by Zip Stevenson, an experienced veteran of the vintage clothing market who will help Haupert find a buyer.
An 1880s Levi’s jeans found in an abandoned mine shaft in New Mexico have sold at auction for a total of $87,400
They are among the most expensive jeans ever sold after being auctioned off at the ‘Durango Vintage Festivus’
They feature suspender buttons on the waistband, brass buttons and selvedge denim badges
They are stained with wax over the legs from which the original owner worked by candlelight
They were found in an abandoned mine shaft in New Mexico by self-proclaimed ‘denim archaeologist’ Michael Harris (stock photo)
Haupert relies on Stevenson’s older wisdom. “He’s seen everything under the sun. I trust him to confirm that they are an authentic pair from the 1880s.”
The winning bid was $76,000, but after buyer’s premiums, the total for the jeans came to $87,400.
“These speak for themselves,” Haupert wrote on his Instagram account. “One of the oldest known pair of Levi’s in existence.”
The auction house’s website lists them in ‘good/portable’ condition. But with a waist of 38 inches and a height of 32, they might not suit every denim lover who wears such authentic vintage jeans.
The jeans are among the oldest known Levi’s from the gold rush era and were described by auction house HiBid as ‘the holy grail of vintage denim collecting’.
“You could carry them to a Starbucks,” Stevenson told the Journal.
The winning bid was $76,000, but after buyer premiums, the jeans total came to $87,400
The winning bid was placed by Kyle Haupert, 23, a San Diego vintage clothing dealer, at the Durango Vintage Festivus in Colorado on Oct. 1.
The auction house’s website lists them in ‘good/portable’ condition. But with a waist of 38 inches and a height of 32
The jeans still bear memories of the time when they were made. ‘The only kind made by white labour’ is printed on the inside.
The phrase is a reference to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibits Chinese workers from entering the US. The phrase was abandoned in the 1890s, the Journal report.
The seller at the auction was Brit Eaton, another vintage expert who has been trading expensive jeans since the 1990s.
He said he bought the jeans for $23,000 five years ago from the self-proclaimed “denim archaeologist” Harris.
“I knew they’d be a big draw,” Mr. Eaton said of the jeans.
The most expensive pair of jeans ever sold were made by Secret Circus Clothing for a whopping $1.3 million.
However, the price was set by the 15 diamonds stitched into the backpack’s pocket, so most likely the jeans alone wouldn’t have sold nearly as much.