does anyone know what old political buttons are worth?

[CTyankee]

Does it depend on the age or the candidate. Hubby has a box full in the basement and we want to sell his collection.

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

[Dennis Donovan]

1. I'd see what they're going for on eBay.

I think it gives a fair appraisal .

[cyclonefence]

2. Oh, you're doing the hard work now!

Dear CTyankee, I think about you and your need to downsize almost every day. I hope you find that those buttons are worth thousands and thousands of dollars, so you can hire somebody to do this hard work for you.

Only kidding. I'm 70 with a houseful of treasures myself, and no way could hired help do this job.

Know you're in my thoughts, and good luck with those buttons.

[Lochloosa]

3. Manifest Auctions has a good reputation and free appraisals.

http://manifestauctions.com/

Online auctions would be how I would go. People buying here are there to buy what you are selling.

[bettyellen]

4. I'd look up rate and valuable political memorabilia online to parse out anything special ....

Check out some on EBay, and then probably list them as collections for sale. You don't want to dea with selling one by one unless you have something special. I know you'd well be able to "curate " some nice little collections that would appeal.

[CTyankee]

5. thanks for the info.

[bettyellen]

6. When you list them use lots of extra key words- every candidate name etc ...

So they come up in more searches.

[bettyellen]

7. Alternatively- when you research prices, maybe contact the collectors who run sites?

And see what you can get for the whole collection.

[CTyankee]

14. I'll have to find them in the basement first...ought to be fun going thru them...

My old buttons are there and my hubby's from his midwestern background. I call them the "way back" buttons from my days in NYC when my kids were little and hubby's days working in TN and SC. I also have some from the women's march way back in the early feminist marches (all dressed in white) and we marched on the green in DC...

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Most of them have very little value.

A quick google "Value of old political buttons" turned up a bunch of information. But essentially, if you've got buttons less than 50 years old, they're probably not worth much.

But certainly, perusing ebay or the internet will be very helpful.

[CTyankee]

15. I got some older than 50 years I am betting.

JFK, LBJ, Nixon --

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

19. You need to take a good look on line.

On Ebay there's a JFK button selling for 99 cents, and another asking $11.50. So they're worth some money, but not an enormous amount. Even much older buttons are going for surprisingly little. So if you have lots and lots, you might get a few hundred dollars.

I know, it's depressing to realize.

I have one piece of political memorabilia, an invitation to to a 1977 Inaugural Ball, addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Holbrooke. It was given to me by Mr. Holbrooke himself. I like to think it has value, but probably not. I will continue to hang on to it because it's such an odd souvenir.

[CTyankee]

20. I'll see if my kids want some...

[crazycatlady]

9. What kinds do you have?

I was promised to inherit my grandfather's collection (he got me into politics in the first place) and my stepgrandmother disposed of them after he passed.

HE had promised them to me since I was first interested in politics at 8. They dated back to FDR.

[left-of-center2012]

10. Most are given out by the thousands

How old are they?

Lincoln or Kennedy?

[CTyankee]

16. I have a JFK button.

[left-of-center2012]

18. $1 to #20 on eBay

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xjfk+campaign+buttons.TRS0&_nkw=jfk+campaign+buttons&_sacat=0

[DFW]

11. Heritage Auctions in Dallas has a complete political memorabilia department

Plus, you can look in their Auction Archives to see if any of the ones you have are ones that have sold for big numbers in the past. I think you have to join as a member to be able to view the prices realized, but it's free and simple to do. It will probably depend on who is on the button, and how obscure or limited the edition. I'm sure McKinley-Roosevelt is worth more than Johnson-Humphrey, but I've never checked it out. Heritage has handled high-end material, campaign objects from Lincoln and Buchanan etc., so they know the field well. www.HA.com

[CTyankee]

12. thanks for the info, DFW!

[DFW]

13. No sweat

Their "Auction Archives" are really helpful in exotic areas like political memorabilia. You might find items that resemble your own in there, and they'll have what they sold for in the past.

Keep in mind that HA.com is sort of a "high-end" place for fields like political memorabilia, so if you can't find any of your items matching items in their records, it will most likely be due to your items being in the lower price range. On the other hand, if you see something you have that brought a decent price in one of their sales, you should probably email them and ask their specialist if the market for that piece is still good, worse, or better.

[CTyankee]

17. when we move into assisted living we will have limited space. I might include the

buttons on a table outside during my estate sale (I'll keep some of the older ones). Maybe charge a nickel apiece. At least it's fun memorabilia...

[GallopingGhost]

21. Buy the book

"Encyclopedia of Political Buttons-United States 1896-1972" by Theodore Hake. You can probably get it on Amazon. It is a treasure trove of info including prices and values.

There are still a lot of pinback collectors out there. I have some cool ones.