Levi's jeans from 1880s auctioned for $87,400 after mine shaft discovery

Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A pair of Levi's jeans dating from the 1880s were found in an abandoned mine and auctioned for $87,400.

The pants were found in an abandoned mine in the American West by self-described "denim archaeologist" Michael Harris and were sold at Durango Vintage Festivus, a four-day celebration of denim on the outskirts of Aztec, N.M.

The jeans, which feature a buckleback adjuster along the seat, were purchased by Kyle Hautner and Zip Stevenson. Hautner paid 90% of the price, while Stevenson contributed the remaining 10%.

Stevenson, who owns and operates the Denim Doctors repair shop in Los Angeles, said the pants were a rare discovery.

"These jeans are extremely rare -- especially in this fantastic worn condition and size," he told CNN.

Stevenson said Harris "has looked in at least 50 abandoned mines for five years and has not found a pair of equal quality."

He said a couple other pairs of Levi's from the same time period are known to still exist, but they are on display in museums and are not considered to be in wearable condition. He said the auctioned pair, by contrast, could be worn with only a few minor repairs.

"There's a couple of soft spots on the jeans that could use a bit of reinforcement but otherwise they're super-duper solid jeans," he said.

A label inside the jeans reads: "The only kind made by white labor," a slogan adopted by the denim company after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese workers from entering the United States.

"It's wild to see that," Haupert told the Wall Street Journal. "That's how old these jeans are."

A Levi's representative said the slogan, and the company's policy of not hiring Chinese immigrants, were scrapped in the 1890s.

The new owners said the jeans are now being kept in a safety deposit box near Denim Doctors and can be viewed by appointment. They said they are hoping to sell the pants to a museum for public display.