This is stacking up to be a most curious and contentious year. At least two major events of note are taking place. One is obvious. Based on the spate of political TV and radio commercials and with primaries just around the corner, candidates are filling pre-election airwaves with endless pitches for themselves and even more derogatory messages about their opponents....
The vitriol appears more forceful than ever. Gone are the days of bumper stickers and lapel pin buttons. Such politicking was so civilized. Today, it’s who can more nastily accuse the other of malfeasance. People don’t seem to vote for candidates. They vote against others.
Maybe that’s why the collecting of political memorabilia remains popular. It reminds us of a gentler time. As recently as the 1960s and ’70s, buttons promoting everyone from “Ike,” Kennedy or Nixon were ubiquitous. Some are even quite valuable.
Not surprisingly, campaign buttons promoting the likes of the Abe Lincoln/Andrew Johnson ticket bring big dollars. One, showing tiny photos of the two on a patriotic medallion shield sold for over $47,000. More amazing is a 1920 button supporting James Cox and Franklin Roosevelt. One of those brought over $180,000 at auction. A button made as recently as 1960 showing John Kennedy in front of the White House with the inscription, “Give The Key To Kennedy” sold for almost $14,000. (It’s said father Joe Kennedy hated the button so very few were made.)
Political bumper stickers are rarely worth much because of how quickly they can deteriorate and how easily they can be duplicated/counterfeited.
The other event of significance is the upcoming Olympics in Paris, beginning in just a few weeks. Given that virtually every Olympics has been a colossal money-loser for the host country, it’s a wonder anyone even steps up to have them.
The 2012 Summer games in London cost England $18 billion. It netted a mere $5.2 billion. Worse were the 2008 Beijing games. Those cost China $40 billion but pulled in a paltry $3.6 billion.
Equally bad can be negative publicity. In Rio de Janeiro, ocean water for some events was found to contain viruses up to 1.7 million times more hazardous than beaches in the U.S. For this year’s Paris games, officials are scrambling to clean the littered and polluted waters of the Seine river.
Negativity and costs aside, two collector attributes of the games are the pins and the coins. For decades, the Olympic games and associated sponsors have issued collector pins. For instance, CocaCola has been a sponsor for every Olympics since 1928. They and other sponsors such as Intel, Panasonic, Budweiser, Visa, Toyota and more all shell out millions of dollars and loads of event pins. For years, the collecting and trading of the pins has been a major activity at the games.
So, are the pins worth anything? A little – but only to the few who want them. Over the years, 65,000 pins have been issued. Some are notably rare. But demand isn’t huge. The value of an Olympic pin is only as high as one collector is willing to pay – assuming you can find that collector.
A popular and prevalent alternative are Olympic coins. Every hosting government goes out of its way to create compelling and attractive coins the year they have the games. Many are commemorative silver and gold issues, and can be pricey. But, for the collectors on a budget, more common circulating coins are far more affordable but equally attractive. For 2024, France has pulled out all the numismatic stops.
The French Mint, known as the Monnaie de Paris, has issued dozens of coins honoring events from swimming, diving, gymnastics and horsemanship, to golf, fencing, pole vaulting, and more. All are bi-metallic in affordable two-euro denominations. Those wishing them all can purchase a large folder blister pack of all 20 two-euro Olympic coins.
In addition, similar to the Olympic medals being awarded, a selection of pricier coins has been struck in bronze, silver and gold. Prices range from a few dollars to almost $900 for the gold. For more information on all the 2024 Olympic coins, log onto: www.MonnaiedeParis.fr.
The games and the coins offer a nice respite from the political malaise we’re being treated to here in the states. Then again, they just had their own tumultuous elections in France. It didn’t go smoothly. Looks like it’s hard to escape divisive politics no matter where one goes. It makes tranquil collecting that much more appealing.
For more collecting information and advice, log on to: http://prexford.com/.