A pair of 165-year-old California God Rush-era jeans created by Levi Strauss in the 1850s is one of 270 treasures recovered from a legendary sunken ship recently sold at auction.
The miner’s work trousers have a five-button fly and are covered in black and brown stains from the briefcase he was found in when a rouge captain discovered the wreck of the SS Central America known as the Ship of Gold at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
More than 7,500 bidders from around the world flocked to the Nevada auction house to compete for jewelry, early Brooks Brothers undershirts and the lid of the oldest known Wells Fargo shipping box of treasures, among other items recovered from the wreckage. achieved.
However, the jeans were the main event and sold for a whopping $114,000 – the entire auction lot raised nearly $1 million.
About 425 lives were lost and 153 people were saved when the Ship of Gold sank in a hurricane in September 1857.
For more than a century, many of their belongings—some still sealed in vaults and passenger trunks—were kept in the chilly, oxygen-poor tomb 2,200 feet below the surface.
The jeans are the oldest known miners’ heavy-duty jeans found to date and were the highlight of the auction, where a bidder paid $114,000
The miner’s work trousers have a five-button fly and are covered in black and brown stains from the torso
Bob Evans, the chief scientist on each underwater rescue mission, said the items may seem ordinary, but they offer an extraordinary glimpse into the daily lives of the passengers and crew, from prospectors to high-society San Franciscans.
The Wells Fargo cover sold for $99,600 and the Brooks Brothers were bought for over $1,000 each.
The Levi Strauss jeans are the oldest known heavy duty miner’s trousers and the most expensive pair.
Dwight Manley, managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group, contributor of the recovered artifacts, said in a statement: “Those miner jeans are like the first flag on the moon, a historic moment in history.
“We can date them precisely because we know that Central America sank in a hurricane in the Atlantic on September 12, 1857. There are no earlier five-button fly jeans.”
There is disagreement over whether the expensive pants have ties to the father of modern jeans, Levi Strauss, as they predated the first pair officially manufactured by his San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co. by 16 years. in 1873.
Some experts point to historical evidence suggesting ties to Strauss, a wealthy dry goods wholesaler at the time, and the pants could be a very early version of what would become the iconic pair of jeans.
But the company’s historian and director of records, Tracey Panek, says any claims about their origins are “speculation.”
“The pants are not from Levi’s and I don’t believe they are miners’ work plans,” she wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
Regardless of their origin, there’s no denying that the pants were made before the SS Central America sank in a hurricane on September 12, 1857.
This ship was packed with passengers who started their journey in San Francisco and made their way to New York via Panama.
And there’s no evidence that any older Gold Rush-era work trousers exist.
“Those miner jeans are like the first flag on the moon, a historic moment in history,” Manley said.
The SS Central America was in service for four years during the California Gold Rush that began on January 24, 1848, when James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma.
Once word spread, about 300,000 people flocked to the state in search of their own treasures.
The SS Central America left San Francisco on August 20, 1857, carrying passengers and more than $8 million in gold.
It took the Panama Route to New York and traveled up the East Coast.
Early Brooks Brothers undershirts were also found in the wreck, selling for over $1,000 each
The shirt features the company logo of a sheep suspended from a ribbon surrounded by the words: ‘MERINO FINISH’ is still visible in the lower right corner
The lid of the oldest known Wells Fargo shipping box of treasures was on display at auction and appears to have survived the watery grave beneath the Atlantic Ocean
Pictured is the wax seal still in the lid, which sold for $99,600
On September 9, 1857, a Category 2 hurricane swept through the North Carolina region, sinking the ship and its hoard of gold.
In 1988, after years of research and fundraising, the shipwreck was found by a team of 40 engineers, scientists and historians.
And the treasures pulled for the ship were auctioned this month.
One of the Brooks Brothers shirts, found in the same briefcase with the jeans, features the corporate logo of a sheep suspended from a ribbon surrounded by the words, “MERINO FINISH” still visible in the lower right corner of the shirt.
The unique wooden lid of a Wells Fargo & Co. treasure chest. was also one of many sunken treasures from the California Gold Rush.
The SS Central America left San Francisco on August 20, 1857, carrying passengers and more than $8 million in gold. The photo shows some of the gold bars pulled from the wreckage
Another never-before-seen numismatic item recovered from the fabled ship was Purser Edward W. Hull’s keys to the ship’s treasure room storage area.
Pictured is a painting of the legendary Ship of Gold
The lid with the engraved name ‘Wells Fargo & Co./New York’ boldly visibly sold for $99,600.
Another never-before-seen numismatic item recovered from the fabled ship was Purser Edward W. Hull’s keys to the ship’s cargo storage room.
Fred Holabird, president of Holabird Western Americana Collections, said in a pronunciation“There’s never been anything like the scope of these recovered artifacts representing a time capsule of everyday life during the Gold Rush.”
‘Due to the exceptionally large number of bids, the auction of only 270 lots took more than eight hours.’
