3Levi Strauss & Co. 501 – $60,000
If you expect these jeans to be modern, new and showed in a very fancy shop, you couldn’t be more wrong. They actually are a pair of original Levi Strauss & Co. that date back to the 1880s and lots of history is captured within the weave of its vintage fabric.
These jeans, which are an original example of the Levi 501 style, sold at auction on EBay in 2005 for a shocking $60,000. The winner was a Japanese collector who asked to remain anonymous.
While this is a record-breaking Levi sale, there are two others that are worth mentioning here. The first was a pair of Levi’s also from the late 1800s that were bought by Levi Strauss & Co. in 2001 for about $46,000. In addition, a recent EBay auction for a pair of Levis more than a century old that was found in a California goldmine sold for more than $36,000.
