It just looked like some old rags, so instead of carefully uncovering it, I pulled on it and tore it to pieces.
I’d actually been digging for antique whisky bottles, and what I didn’t know then was that those “rags” were likely worth thousands.
I did a bit of research into the history of Levi’s, and realised collectors would pay a lot for them, even for scraps.
I started going to the mines regularly with my father-in-law, a geologist, to look especially for denim.
But the mines have been covered in rocks and trash, so it can take weeks and months to dig down, lifting big rocks one by one.
The first time, we knew we’d dug down far enough when we found bits of newspaper dating back to the 1800s.
My father-in-law doesn’t want to sell them and neither do I, but I have two daughters to put through college, so they might have to go. »
![image for [OC] The yellow states in the map below are the states in which it is legal to own a RACCOON.](35e45c81-681f-5438-8915-2db2e1a7d0e2_thumb.jpg)
![image for [OC] The states in blue have a combined total population equal to Los Angeles county, in red.](505f4649-abac-562e-8db8-60d2ed7a157d_thumb.jpg)
