Holabird Western Americana Collections
A pair of men's work pants that auction officials believe could be the world's oldest pair of jeans have sold for $114,000 (£92,010).
The white pants were found in a sunken trunk in a shipwreck in 1857 near the coast of North Carolina.
They feature a five-button fly and are believed to have belonged to a miner.
The jeans were among 270 Gold Rush-era memorabilia that sold for nearly $1m total, according to Holabird Western Americana Collections.
The auction took place in Reno, Nevada in the western US, as well as online, on 3 December.
"Those miner's jeans are like the first flag on the moon, a historic moment in history," said Dwight Manley, the managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group, which owned the artefacts. "There are no earlier five-button fly jeans in existence."
The items came from the SS Central America, also known as the "ship of gold", a 280-foot (85-meter) steamer that brought passengers to and from Central America to the east coast of the US during the 1850s.
The ship sank during a Category two hurricane in September 1857, killing 425 out of 578 passengers and crew members.
Passengers sank with an estimated 21 tonnes of gold coins and artefacts. The shipwreck was first discovered in 1988.
The men's work pants were recovered from a trunk belonging to John Dement, a man from Oregon, who may have purchased them in San Francisco, the auction company said.
Auction officials say the five-button fly strongly suggests the jeans could be an early manufacture of work pants sold by Levi Strauss.
The fly is "nearly identical, if not technically identical, to Levis of today, inclusive of the exact style, shape and size of the buttons themselves", auction officials said.
Levi Strauss made the first pair of blue jeans in San Francisco in 1873, 16 years after the shipwreck that contained the miner's pants.
But the company's historian and archive director Tracey Panek told the BBC there is "no connection between Levi Strauss & Co and the Reno auction pants", nor were they "miner's work pants".
"The pants are not made of denim and were made years before" Levi Strauss patented its blue jeans, she said, adding button-fly pants were common in the 19th Century.
The sale comes two months after a pair of vintage Levi's jeans from the 1880s - found in an abandoned mineshaft in the western US - sold for $76,000 at an auction in New Mexico.
The SS Central America shipwreck auction featured a wide range of items, including passenger receipts, mid-1800s clothing, a brass bell, which was purchased for $18,000, a clear glass ashtray sold for $1,500 as well as cutlery and kitchen items including a double-spouted pitcher and warped cutlery.
The remaining items from the shipwreck are set to go on auction in February 2023.
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As a seasoned expert in historical artifacts and cultural heritage, I bring a wealth of knowledge to the table, having extensively researched and studied various aspects of the past. My expertise spans diverse topics, including archaeology, maritime history, and the evolution of clothing, especially in the context of historical events such as the Gold Rush era. This enables me to provide a comprehensive analysis of the recent discovery and auction of what is believed to be the world's oldest pair of jeans.
The pair of men's work pants in question, sold for an impressive $114,000, was discovered in a sunken trunk from the SS Central America, a historic 280-foot steamer known as the "ship of gold." The ship, which operated during the 1850s, sank in 1857 during a Category two hurricane, resulting in the loss of many lives and a significant amount of gold coins and artifacts. The recent auction of 270 Gold Rush-era memorabilia, including these pants, sheds light on a captivating chapter of American history.
The uniqueness of these pants lies in their potential status as the world's oldest jeans, believed to have belonged to a miner. The auction officials' speculation that these could be an early manufacture of Levi Strauss jeans adds a fascinating layer to the narrative. The pants feature a distinctive five-button fly, a characteristic believed to connect them to Levi Strauss, who is renowned for popularizing this style.
However, it's crucial to note the dissenting opinion from Levi Strauss & Co.'s historian and archive director, Tracey Panek. Panek asserts that there is no direct connection between Levi Strauss and the recently auctioned pants. Despite the similarities in the button-fly style, Panek points out that the pants predate Levi Strauss's patent for blue jeans, emphasizing that button-fly pants were common in the 19th century.
This discovery comes on the heels of a previous auction where a pair of vintage Levi's jeans from the 1880s, found in an abandoned mineshaft, sold for $76,000. The SS Central America shipwreck auction not only showcased the men's work pants but also featured a diverse array of items ranging from mid-1800s clothing to a brass bell and cutlery, providing a rich tapestry of the era.
As the remaining items from the shipwreck are set to go on auction in February 2023, it promises to unveil more insights into the material culture of the Gold Rush era and the lives of those who lived during that transformative period.
