Most Vintage Jeans Sell for About $100. These 19th-Century Levi's Found in a Mine Shaft Just Sold for Much, Much More.The jeans, which were found five years ago in the American West by a "denim archeologist," are shockingly intact.

ByAmanda Breen

Most people are willing to pay up for a good pair ofjeans, but for somedenim-obsessed collectors, the commitment to a rare vintage pant goes a step further.

That was the case for 23-year-old Kyle Haupert and Zip Stevenson, long-time players in thevintage market, who recently purchased a pair of 19th-centuryLevi'sjeans found in an abandoned mine shaft by a "denim archeologist,"The Wall Street Journalreported. The price? $87,400.

Related:Levi Strauss Is a Good Fit Despite Headwinds

It's one of the highest prices ever paid for a pair of jeans — and included a 15% buyer's premium. Haupert paid 90%; Stevenson, who has run the Los Angeles shop Denim Doctors since 1994, supplied the remaining 10%.

The jeans were discovered about five years ago in the American West by Michael Harris, who searched "at least 50 abandoned mines" without finding a comparable pair, Stevenson toldCNN.

Vintage denim expert Brit Eaton purchased the jeans from Harris for $23,000 five years ago, perWSJ.

Inside the pair, "The only kind made by white labor" is printed — a slogan used following 1882's Chinese Exclusion Act, according to a Levi's spokesperson. Levi's ended that policy and got rid of the slogan in the 1890s, which confirms the jeans' 19th-century status.

"I've been doing this business for a quarter of a century and the average vintage jeans are worth about $100," Eaton told CNN. "So to find a pair this valuable is once in a lifetime."

Related:Hitting a Nostalgic Home Run With Vintage Baseball Uniforms

Also once in a lifetime? The fact that these jeans are intact enough to be worn "toStarbucks”——大多数其他rs in existence are far too delicate.

Despite their apparent durability, Haupert and Stevenson hope the pants will be purchased by a museum for display.

Wavy Line
Amanda Breen

Entrepreneur Staff

Features Writer

Amanda Breen is a features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

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