Everyone dreams of finding treasure. From TV shows that follow archaeologists hunting for lost cities of gold, to people who search mines in hopes of striking it rich ‒ we all want to find that next big prize. For one lucky company, a find off the shores of North Carolina has led to a boatload of treasure from a wreck that is almost 166 years old. And it didn’t disappoint historians or treasure hunters.

A ship named the S.S. Central America left San Francisco in 1857, full of passengers making their way to New York. Tragically a hurricane struck, and the ship sank only days after setting sail. Out of the 578 passengers onboard, only 153 passengers survived.

Despite more than 270 artifacts that dated from the Gold Rush era, it was a simple pair of jeans that created the biggest stir. White, with a five-button fly, these miner’s pants are being labeled as the first pair created by Levi Strauss, considered the father of the American jeans industry.

These are miner’s work pants from the 1857 sinking of the S.S. Central America. AP Photo

The wide variety of relics found are believed to have come from both wealthy residents of San Francisco, as well as blue-collar workers. The pants, however, belonged to a man named John Dement from Oregon. Dement served in the Mexican-American War, and miraculously, was one of the survivors of the shipwreck.

“There has never been anything like the scope of these recovered artifacts, which represented a time capsule of daily life during the Gold Rush,” said Fred Holabird, president of Holabird Western American Collections. The auction house sold the more than 270 items for almost $1 million. The jeans sold for $114,000.

However, Levi Strauss & Co.’s historian and archive director, Tracey Panek, disagrees. She says the pants were made 16 years before Strauss created his first pair of jeans for manufacturing. However, other historians argue that the pants, along with other items on the ship, could be linked to Levi Straus. Strauss was a wholesaler of goods at the time ‒ and some believe the pants were an early version of the jeans that would one day be famous around the world. The ship had been carrying items from Strauss’ business. But Panek says that is all ‘speculation’.

The pants are not Levi’s nor do I believe they are miner’s work pants,” she said in an email to the Associated Press.

But the seller of the pants disagrees. “Those miner’s jeans are like the first flag on the moon, a historic moment in history,” said Dwight Manley, a managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group, which owns the artifacts and put them up for auction.

The Wells Fargo treasure box that was found on the North Carolina shipwreck. AP Photo

“At the end of the day, nobody can say these are or are not Levi’s with 100% certainty,” Manley said. But “these are the only known Gold Rush jeans … not present in any collection in the world.” Other items that went up for auction included the purser’s keys to the ship’s treasure room which held millions in gold. The gold has been sold, but the keys themselves went for $103,200. 

Some of the artifacts sold included:

• The lid of a Wells Fargo & Co. treasure box for $99,000
• An 1849 Colt pocket pistol for $30,000
• A $20 gold coin minted in 1856 for $43,200

Watch below for Levi’s take on the shipwreck and the jeans that were found.