Presidential Elections & the Value of Political Memorabilia

Wednesday, October 05, 2016

We are a little over a month away from deciding who the next President of the United States will be. During this indecisive period in time, political memorabilia skyrockets in value, and it doesn’t need to be George Washington’s nine-million-dollar copy of the Constitution, either. Outside of the ephemera aspect of collecting political memorabilia, hats, pens, buttons, and essentially anything with a presidential seal or logo is collectible. One of the most saved collectibles for the novice collector would be a White House souvenir pen.

On average, a well-cared for example, with a box, sells for $30 to $60, with only certain Presidents’ era items demanding a premium. Along with pens, campaign pins are highly collected; from the two dollar 2016 election buttons to the $26,000 Cox and Roosevelt button, all campaign pins are coveted for a price. Even pins of modern day past presidents are rising in value. Pins from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s are now selling for hundreds; Jimmy Carter campaign buttons can sell for between two and three hundred dollars for the right variant. Campaign button collecting doesn’t end with presidents, but even pins such as Rhode Island’s Buddy Cianci for Governor button can be worth $30 to $50 dollars.

Aside from the Presidents themselves, memorabilia related to the First Ladies can be extremely rare. Besides being a very influential first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt was a founding member of the Val-Kill furniture company. Roosevelt had founded the company with friends Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman. The three women oversaw the production of fine wooden furniture, metal wares, and decorative arts until 1936. Today on the secondary market, Val-Kill furniture and decorative wares can be worth thousands of dollars.

Election 2016 Memorabilia

With Hillary Clinton being the first female Democratic nominee for president, a new collectible could potentially be born with the first “first” man. Bill Clinton would not only just be the “first gentleman”, but the first president to ever be the “first gentleman”, which sounds like a nice scenario for some historically significant objects to be created for the future. If Clinton collecting doesn’t sit well with your political side, then don’t worry because Donald Trump makes an interesting candidate for future collectables, too. The real estate and business mogul’s collection of past and current businesses from casinos to vineyards has produced some interesting merchandise for people to appreciate in the near future. Regardless of whom you cast your vote for this November it wouldn’t hurt to pick up a Clinton button or Trump ashtray for the future.

This article was written by Travis Landry, Toy Department Director and Specialist for Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers and Rhode Island Comic Con in part of an ongoing content series with GoLocal.