Lost Indiana Jones Prop Found Decades Later, Could Sell At Auction For Over $360K

Indiana Jones‘ iconic Raiders of the Lost Ark shirt has been found and is set to be sold at auction this week, with a staggering estimated selling price. Released in 1981, Harrison Ford’s first adventure as the intrepid archeologist spawned a franchise that now includes five feature films. The hero sports one of the most iconic costumes in movie history, wearing a fedora, leather jacket, beige shirt, and wielding a bullwhip.

Now, just ahead of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘s streaming release, Ford’s beige button-down shirt from Raiders of the Lost Ark is up for sale on the Propstore website.

The shirt, which has been forensically confirmed to be the one that Ford actually wore, is expected to sell for between $185,000 to $369,000 USD. Per Daily Mail, the shirt had been lost of many years, changing hands for pennies at charity shops and on eBay before it was eventually found and analyzed. The shirt was then used as reference to make Ford’s shirt for the latest film.

Is Raiders Of The Lost Ark The Best Indiana Jones Movie?

In many ways, Raiders of the Lost Ark remains the most important entry in the long-running franchise. The film featured Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair, and the filmmaker’s eye for dynamic action permeates every frame, with Ford’s hero bouncing from one thrilling set piece to the next. If Star Wars‘ Han Solo hadn’t already announced Ford as a major star in 1977, it was Raiders of the Lost Ark that solidified his position as one of the best and most iconic leading men in Hollywood.

Released in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has since had something of a critical reevaluation, but Ford’s second outing as the archeologist is generally considered to fall short of the original. The film was surprisingly dark and gloomy, and Spielberg himself would even later admit that taking the hero down such a sinister path may have been a mistake. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade would mark a major course correction in this regard, and the lighter and more comedic adventure is often cited as a favorite film in the franchise, especially due to Ford’s dynamic with costar Sean Connery.

The battle for the title of best Indiana Jones movie is really between the first and the third movie and will obviously be a matter of personal preference. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has moments of greatness but strays too far from what made the original films iconic, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny reviews were mixed as well, with the film returning to the franchise’s roots in many ways but also taking some bold swings and lacking the dynamism of Spielberg’s direction.