DALLAS –A 3-inch 1860 Abraham Lincoln hat badge – made members of the avidly collected Wide Awakes campaign group – is expected to sell for $13,000 as Heritage Auctions offers more than 350 examples of rare political memorabilia in Part III of the Merrill C. Berman Collection of Americana & Political Memorabilia. The Sept. 26 auction includes political buttons, ribbons and ephemera from campaigns spanning George Washington to John F. Kennedy.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide absentee and Internet live bidding.
“Early material related to the pro-Lincoln Wide Awakes is very popular and the Berman Collection kept this rarity off the market for nearly 30 years,” said Tom Slater, director of Americana Auctions at Heritage. “The Berman Collection Part II set a world record and we’re excited to see how collectors respond to this latest, comprehensive offering.”
One of the earliest-known photographic campaign items ever produced, an extraordinarily rare, 1852 daguerreotype for Winfield Scott’s failed presidential campaign is one of just two known to exist. In immaculate condition, the pendant (below) consists of a clear image of Scott, set into a gilt brass shell frame with “For President Winfield Scott” boldly incused in block letters (est. $20,000+).
A highly prized campaign ferrotype image of Horace Greeley in the form of a quill pen (below) to celebrate the candidate’s career as one of America’s greatest journalists appears at auction for just the second time in nearly 50 years (est. $15,000+).
The collection’s extensive selection of campaign pinbacks includes the iconic 2 1/4-inch “60 Million Working” 1948 button featuring Harry Truman (est. $12,000+), an 1896 jugate button featuring cartoonish depictions of William McKinley and Garret Hobart riding a bicycle (est. $10,000+), and a rare and important 1-1/4-inch jugate from 1920 featuring Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge in one of the hobby’s most familiar and coveted designs (est. $10,000+).
