Presidential memorabilia is one of the oldest and most popular categories of collecting, with items ranging from documents to clothing acting as the centerpieces of many collections for decades.
With the 2024 election underway, let's take a look back at some of the most intriguing presidential items to ever sell at auction.
Pistols gifted by French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette to George Washington during the American Revolution sold at Christie’s for nearly $2 million in 2002. Lafayette fought under Washington during the war, and the two men famously forged a longstanding bond, which was seen as instrumental to obtaining the French support for the Americans' fight for independence.
Abraham Lincoln is undoubtedly the most collectible president, not only due to his impact on American history and the enduring appreciation modern-day Americans hold for him, but also as a result of his assassination, which yielded many items of memorabilia.
One of the most significant items relating to Lincoln to ever cross the auction block sold at Sotheby’s in 2016, when one of the 14 copies of the 13th Amendment signed by Lincoln sold for $2.4 million.
An autograph manuscript of his victory speech from the 1864 election sold for nearly $3.5 million in 2009.
An original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, one of very few extant, sold for $2 million in 2012.
An autograph manuscript of his last address as president, which he delivered three days prior to his assassination, sold for more than $3 million at Christie’s in 2002.
Items relating to his assassination are often among the most popular for collectors.
Brass opera glasses carried by the president on the night of his assassination sold for $424,000 in 2002.
A bloodstained swatch from the head bandage of Lincoln, used after he was shot, sold for $44,240 in February of this year.
Two front-row tickets to Ford’s Theatre the night of his assassination sold for $262,500 in 2023.
John F. Kennedy is another favorite among collectors.
One of the most unique pieces of Kennedy memorabilia to ever sell for a major price was his White House rocking chair, which was gifted to him by former New York Gov. Averell Harriman and sold for $591,000 in May 2022.
A handwritten draft for Kennedy’s speech announcing his intention to run for the presidency in 1960 sold for over $275,000 in 2021 at RR Auctions.
Heritage sold the license plates from the limousine in which Kennedy was riding during his assassination for $100,000 in 2015. The original keys to the limousine sold for over $32,000 in 2013.
Political pins have long been a popular category for presidential and political history collectors. One of the holy grails of political buttons, the Cox and Roosevelt 1.25-inch button sold for $185,850 at Hake’s in 2022. One of what is believed to be just five or six examples, the button is believed to be so rare due to FDR’s relative anonymity as a 38-year-old in 1920 and supposedly the only surviving examples were created as samples.
President William McKinley is hardly considered one of the most famous or memorable presidents, however, his 1932 U.S. Caramel Presidents card is highly coveted. The reason? It was intentionally short-printed. As the set was issued with a promise of a free box of chocolates as a reward for those who collected all 31 presidents in the set, executives from U.S. Caramel reportedly ordered the McKinley card to be short-printed to avoid giving away too many free boxes. Last month, a PSA 1 example of the card sold for $21,000.
Due to his death after just one month in office, William Henry Harrison autographs from his time as president are remarkably rare. In 2015, Christie’s sold a document with his signature for $75,000. At the time, the auction house wrote, “Only 20 examples have appeared at auction since 1974; only four in the last 10 years.”
While the most famous presidential top hat is certainly that of Lincoln’s, Theodore Roosevelt’s top hat, including “hidden compartments” believed to be used for storing accessories, sold for $50,000 at Heritage in 2020.
Keeping on the topic of presidential fashion, FDR’s wool cape, which he is seen wearing in photographs of the Yalta conference while meeting with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, sold for $67,375 in 2014.
In one of the most famous newspaper front pages in political history, the “Dewey Defeats Truman” Chicago Daily Tribune issue, signed by both candidates, sold for $16,250 in 2022.
Among the most unique and expensive sales in political memorabilia history, a putter Ronald Reagan used on Air Force One while traveling to meet with Mikhail Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit, sold for $150,000.
Finally, a basketball from President Barack Obama’s 49th birthday hoops game, signed by Obama, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Carmelo Anthony, sold for $99,000 in 2022.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.