My Collections

[CoinCrusader42]

This isn't a favorite topic for my wife (MountainLady).  She would prefer to have the 200 square feet of space used for other things.

When I go to that great coin store in the sky, it's hard to imagine what my family will do with the collectibles I leave behind.

Following are some of my collections.

The figures given may not be accurate in that I haven't looked into many of them for years.

Here we go.

75,000 National Geographics
70,000 Post Cards
1500 Autographed Pictures
1,000 Presidential Campaign Items
40 baseball caps with logos of places visited
500 Video Tapes
150 DVD's
20 DVD Series from Television
50,000 Baseball Cards (Joint, with son Mitch)
100 Signed Baseballs, Players' Pictures, Pennants
150 Yearbooks from Schools I Have Been Associated With
500 Books (Mainly History, Historical Novels, National Geographic)
Vintage Baseball Stuff (Example -- St. Louis Browns' Uniform)
Baseball Pennants (One for every Rockies Home Opener)
500 Signed Letters From Famous People
100 Keepsakes from Trips Abroad
150 Newspaper Front Pages
25 Cameras (Many older, Used as Conversation Pieces)
Watches
Medals
10 Cast Iron Car Savings Banks

 

[Triggersmob]

Gary,

Your collections make my 12.000 stamps pale into insignificance.

[TwoShadows]

Sure would make a great Ebay sale wouldn't it? Especially anything with a signature on it! It is amazing what we can get interested in and save over a lifetime and even though we don't do it as an investment many times our collections turn into amazing values that we were not even aware we had. And, it is even more impressive that you actually know what you have. I couldn't even tell you what I have in coins, let alone anything else!

[scottishmoney]

I would never collect anything else   Yeah right.

[edix]

Our household has well over 2,500 books.

[scottishmoney]

I collect just about anything I desire for whatever reason.  I have old clocks, brass fans, oil lamps etc.  If it were not for my wife and her desire for space, I would have the place cluttered like the storage room of a museum.  I also collect fine art prints, and study art with a passion nearly as fervent as numismatics.

[Topher]

I guess I'm probably in the minority when I tell you I collect musical instruments.  I bought an ophicleide last year.    That's just the latest in my collection.  I need more space.

[RenaL]

Isn't that a bit expensive of a collection Topher?
I mean coins ok, but Musical instruments... What do you have so far?

[Humpybong]

Musical instruments.....boy I thought my almost antique furniture was bad.  At least I can get rid of a piece of furniture and replace with the older piece.

As well as my coin and banknote collection our household has a few other bad habits.

We (she who must be obeyed and I) also collect ivory elephants (no longer politically correct) hand made cottages (ceramic) old ceramic potties (toilet type) and I think thats enough.

[Topher]

Isn't that a bit expensive of a collection Topher?
I mean coins ok, but Musical instruments... What do you have so far?

I never really though about it as being expensive, but I guess you're right.  And oddly enough, I don't collect expensive coins.  (almost all of my collection in non-precious metals).   Many of these instruments are ones that I have played, or still actively play, so the thought of considering them a collection didn't really strike me until just a few years ago.

I'm primarily a low brass player, but also grew up playing the string bass, so here's the list:

Tenor trombones (about 6 or 7, I lost track)
Rotary valve tenor trombone
Bass trombone - Edwards double independant Thayer valves
G-bass trombone
Euphonium (still want to get a double-belled euphonium one day)
Tubas - 2 (one in Eb, one in Bb)
French horns (I think I still have 2)
Mellophone - looks like a french horn, but has piston valves
Helicon - the precursor to the sousaphone
Ophicleide
Electric Bass - 5 string
Acoustic bass (not the upright kind, it's more like an acoustic guitar with only 4 strings)
Acoustic guitar
Electric guitar (can't play it worth a darn!  LOL)
Mandolin - bowl-back, or taterbug style
Soprano Ukulele
Trumpets (2 that I can remember)
Cornets - 2
Flute
8-keyed Irish (?) wooden flute
1-keyed wooden piccolo
Bb Clarinets (a half dozen or so? plus lots of extra parts)
Eb Clarinet
Bass clarinet
Alto saxophone
Baritone saxophone
English Horn
Bassoons - 2
Recorders (Sopranino, Soprano and Alto)
Accordion (80 button)
Snare drum (my sister didn't take drum lessons for long, so I "inherited" this)
Dumbek/Darbouka (whatever name you want to call it - mine is ceramic and from Egypt)
Shakers and rattles from Zimbabwe
Rosewood claves and castanets from Spain
Oud
Yarghul
Jinghu
Shakuhachi
Ocarina (Romanian)
Various flutes, transverse and endblown (Native American, Romanian, etc.)

My wish list (short term) not in any particular order:
Banjo-Uke
Double-belled Euphonium
Holton Superbone
Contrabass Trombone
Full set of wooden recorders Sopranino to Bass (Moeck or Molenhauer preferred, but not necessary)
Balalaika (my parents are in Russia right now, so I'm hoping they bring one back for me )
Button Accordion

Whew - I hope thats all of them.  (I've still probably missed a bunch)  I never though of taking photos of them all.  Probably not a bad idea for insurance purposes now that I think about it.

[scottishmoney]

I have a balalaika I bought in Khabarovsk Russia now it rest up top of a bookcase.  They are fun to play, reasonably easy and have a unique sound.

[CoinCrusader42]

All my collections were put together without thinking about an investment.  However I do think some of my collections will have value.  For instance, my autographed pictures are all genuinely autographed.  They include personalities from Harry Truman to the King of Spain to Elvis to Mickey Mantle.

I will add to my baseball collection starting tomorrow.  It's back to Denver to watch the Rockies in the NLDS playoffs.  I plan to add a cap with a "wildcard" logo, a pennant, and a program to my collection.

 

[TwoShadows]

Years ago I collected pencils and ink pens but modern society here quit giving such items away so I finally sold them off. I have collected match books (Not long) and new plastic bread bags as I worked in that industry for years but those merely took up space boxed in the closet. My wife collects lamb and sheep figurines, decorative plates and coins. I guess, in a sense, I have been an N Gauge train collector even though I have not touched them for 25 years. Just recently I started building a train layout for my little guy and have realized I was sitting on a pretty good investment as that hobby is very expensive now. Glad I already own most of the items needed to do this project for the little guy. I tend to hit spurts with different items and calling them a collection satisfies my  need to possess numerous items. Coins have been a constant for 30 years plus and I have found more enjoyment there than any other hobby I have been involved in.

[scottishmoney]

I also collect USSR/Russian aviation memorabilia, mostly model aircrafts.  Then there is the model railroad, with a focus on the steam era of the Wabash RR, and their P-1 4-6-4s.

[AuldFartte]

Topher, I'd love to see photos of some of the old and/or unusual instruments. That sounds like a fantastic collection 

[Topher]

Topher, I'd love to see photos of some of the old and/or unusual instruments. That sounds like a fantastic collection 

Give me a few weeks to finish getting moved into our new house.  I'm also shopping for a new digital camera, but I'm quite picky about the macro settings and haven't found one that I'm happy with in my price range. I'll be sure to post back here somewhere when I do get some photos taken.

[GregK]

I have many passions, but only two have made it to any collectable status.  There are my coins of course, the other, some may cringe, while I'll listen to all music except heavy Opera and heavy metal, my country music collection does keep my wife's teeth on edge  .  Its a mix of American/Australian from the late 20s to the early 70s.  Two other passions are World War 2 aircraft, and I have a few books on these, and Native Amercian History.  

[Muckeye]

Hi gregk.

Re your interest in early country music.
I have been trying for some time to get a tape/disc of  works of Harry Torani.
Would you know of anywhere  that I might try with some success of obtaining some?
regards,

[scottishmoney]

  Two other passions are World War 2 aircraft, and I have a few books on these

Yes!  I have the VVS collection, ie the Mig-3, IL-2 but I also like the British aircraft like the Hawker Tempest and the Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX and the Avro Lancaster.  Sometime I hope to fly on the Lanc, it is an awesome bird, so overlooked compared to the B-17 and the B-24.  Until 9-11 it was easy to find flights on older birds, the oldest I have flown on is a 1929 Ford Trimotor, but that will probably never happen again now.

I am a member of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, http://www.warplane.com/  Have a look at the website, but better yet it is one of the friendliest, cleanest museums in North America.

[GregK]

Muckeye.  You have mail re Harry Torani

[GregK]

scottishmoney, thanks for the link to the Canadian Museum.  I like the old Hawker Hurricane; I don't think that enough credence is given to it for the important role it played, in many theatres in WW2.  One of the most awesome sights I have ever seen was during the Silver Jubilee Fleet Review in 1977.  I had gone aft on HMAS MELBOURNE's flight deck to lower the jack staff, when I heard a sound, not unlike the S2E trackers that we had.  I looked up and saw
a Lancaster flying over with a Spitfire on the one side and a Mustang on 
t' other. What a sight!!!!!!

[scottishmoney]

Real planes are pushed by pistons.  The roar of the Lanc is awesome.  I believe it has to be my favourite bomber from WWII, had the highest load capacity in it's class.  Only one with greater load capability was the B-29, but it was a difficult and problem plagued bird to fly and keep in the air.  The funny thing about the Lanc is that it started out as a two engined bird, the Manchester and was a disaster - crews refused to fly it.  When it got the four Merlins and became the Lanc, it went from lousy to great.

As for fighters in Britain or Canada it would have to be the Hawker Tempest.  One superfast and highly capable bird that outclassed all others, but came late in the war.

[GregK]

Yes its strange, how two extra "donks" made all the difference.  I understand that the original Lancs were converted Manchesters with the additional engines. The Tempests were a lovely aircraft, with plenty of go with the Napier Sabre donks. 

[scottishmoney]

They completely re-engined the Mancs to make Lancs.  The original Rolls Royce vulture engine was absolute junk, and was prone to narsty in-flight fires or inexplicable disentegrations whilst in-flight.  Not sure on you, but if I am flying a stressful combat mission against the Hun, I would rather prefer my A/C engines not to induce the Roman candle effect, or be onboard flak bombs.  So these were shed like a bad habit and replaced with the excellent Rolls Royce Merlin, which also powered the Mustang fighters.  I do love the sound of piston engines, so much sexier than a jet any day.

[GregK]

I fondly remember the "grumbly" sound of the RAN's S2Es trackers with  2 X 9cylinders Wright R-1820-82WA.  The turbo prop donks make a "phut" sound

[dustin43160]

well of course coins but i also collect hot wheels, sports cards,swords, i have over 150 pocket knifes, would like to collect guns and older vehicles, eh i have one old bible from the 1800 id like to find out about. i also have thousands and thousands of magazines from the 40s,50s,60, and early 70s.

[Yass]

Apart from the coins, I have a couple of antique oil lamps, lots of basket ball and collector cards that I took off the kids (I let them keep the duplicates LOL).
I've also got a small collection of race track membership medals, mainly Morwell, Traralgon and Sale including ladies membership.
I once had a complete collection of marvel comics, including #1's in Spiderman, Thor, X-men, Iron Man, Aquaman, Hulk and others.  The collection was nearly 4-5 feet high.  That is all I ever spent my pocket miney on.  My mother threw them all out when I left home, God bless her

[TwoShadows]

At least your Mother waited for you to move. My grandmother cleaned my closet while I was in high school and was very proud to announce she had cleaned my closet while I was at school. I can still hear her saying she threw out all those darned old baseball cards and comic books. My reply was "What did you do with them"? And, sadly enough, her relpy was the "burn barrel"!  I can remember running out to the burn barrel to seek out a miracle, any miracle but not a shred of paper remained, only ashes! Years of collecting went up in smoke and most of those oldies would have been "keepers" today!

[dustin43160]

At least your Mother waited for you to move. My grandmother cleaned my closet while I was in high school and was very proud to announce she had cleaned my closet while I was at school. I can still hear her saying she threw out all those darned old baseball cards and comic books. My reply was "What did you do with them"? And, sadly enough, her relpy was the "burn barrel"!  I can remember running out to the burn barrel to seek out a miracle, any miracle but not a shred of paper remained, only ashes! Years of collecting went up in smoke and most of those oldies would have been "keepers" today!

ouch!!! my great great grandma frances threw out all of my gramps 20s,30s,40s,50s,and 60s collection!!! wish i had em today id be one rich feller

[TwoShadows]

Now you guys just are not going to believe this! As I mentioned earlier I am building an N Gauge train layout for my little boy. Well over the course of the last few weeks he has taken more and more of an interest and, after taking his first train ride in a real caboose a couple of weeks ago, he has decided he wants to collect caboose's. I thought that was a pretty neat idea, their small and many of them are out of production and, here in the states, they are a dying breed as most trains don't pull a caboose any longer. Well being the outstanding father that I am I decided to really get him hooked and buy a few off of Ebay and I know it is something we can share together. As fate would have it the first 3 cabooses that I/We picked out to bid on and win are in, of all places, AUSTRALIA!!! I am going to have to get some sort of direct deposit with that country or at least some kind of award for stimulating their economy?

[CoinCrusader42]

Being a Yankees fan since the 1940's, I can still visualize all those Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizutto, Allie Reynolds, and Yogi Berra cards in my collection.

I have no idea what happened to them.

 

[CoinCrusader42]

Terry,

You are right about cabooses.

I haven't seen one for years, with the exception of one which resides at the train yard in Grand Junction, Colorado.  It sits there for people to look at, and to keep a piece of history available for the public to view..

 

[D. Carr]

Strangely enough, I collect El Caminos.   I have 5 at present.   Here is one of them (actually a rare "GMC Sprint" version):

[TwoShadows]

We don't see many El Caminos here in Indiana any longer. Our weather and salt pretty much played havoc with them over the years. On occassion we will see one still running down the road but, or the most part, all that is left will be at the car shows. Of all the vehicles I ever owned I probably should have protected and kept the Dodge Mirada as they were not very common while they were in production and they certainly disappeared very quicky.

[dustin43160]

holy sweet mary i love el cominos and camaros!! but dont have one or a callection.

[Humpybong]

Very nice dcarr.

Hope you dont have to wash and polish them every week.

You would have no time left for coins.

 

[dsking]

Oh heck, I might as well fess up too!

I collect old postcards, old books - mostly Biographical Histories, pre and civil war photos, tin types, daguerrotypes ,albums and letters/covers.  I also have a large figurine collection of "Occupied Japan" that was given to me by my Mother.  My Husband and I are collecting crystals and other gems together like geodes, etc.

Several years ago, I received an e-mail from a gentleman that had come upon an old letter, pre civil war from a Levi Ross in Ohio.  This gentleman had done an internet search and found my website on "Andrews Raiders".  This fella was quite intuitive.  He wrote me and asked if I knew Levi Ross from Ohio who was the Father of Marion A Ross, who was one of "Andrews Raiders".  Marion received the first posthumous Medal of Honor for his heroism in the raid and died in Atlanta at the end of a Rebel rope.  I know own the letter from Levi Ross - my Great, Great, Great Grandfather!  Interesting how our "hobbies" can make things sometimes come full circle.  I also own each Indian Cent from the Civil War era.  My 1862 is the nicest one and that's the year Marion died.

Here's a little history lesson if you'd like: http://dskingpublications.com/MOH_Dedication_Page.htm



Deb

[Humpybong]

That is some web page Debbie.

Looked like a few of them were lucky in missing the train and others lucky that they escaped.

Any knowledge on what happended to the escapees.  Did they survive the war or were they killed later?


.....OOPS forget it just realised I can click on there names for more information.

[Muckeye]

G'day Old Dan,

Golly that brings back memories. I had the privilege of working on several of those famous rifles when I was an Armourer in the Air force.
The craftmanship was so fine I was often scared to put a screwdriver on one, let alone turn it. We often made screwdrivers to fit individual screws.

Thanks for the recollections.
regards.

[TwoShadows]

Oh GREAT! Now I have another reason to go see Old Dan! Coins, guns, Elk, fresh air, fresh water, mountains and BUFFALO! Need a trip west pretty badly!

[TwoShadows]

You may be on to something Old Dan! Can you imagine the speed you could get out of those dogs with a cat out in front?

[ElleKitty]

Can you imagine that cat moving at all?  Us pesky critters, a cat would probably sit down and refuse to move in the snow, all the while washing his paws indignantly. 

[Hermit]

I have a small collection of musical instruments also. All five recorders, flute, clarinet, oboe, pan pipes and a couple of tin whistles in different keys.

Perhaps not so much a collection, rather tools of the hobby, I have a collection of Ham radio gear. Transceivers, antenna matchers, power supplies and of course heaps of antennas. The end result of this is I end up with a collection of conversation logs and sometimes QSL cards from all over the world. QSL cards are a bit like post cards we post to each other with technical contact information to confirm the contact.

[Dumanyu]

In addition to coins, I dabble in swords (7), firearms of which the jewel is an 1875 Beaumont-Vitalli rifle in .50 cal black powder cartridge rifle, and a 7.7mm Japanese type 99 rifle which was taken off Guadal Canal, complete with monopod, and antiaircraft sights. Toss in a few antique vases, a boatload of books and a smattering of sport memorobilia including an autographed picture of Walter Payton, and that's about it.

[henselen]

does anyone have a hertie-gertie?  also, I collected many copper ice cream scoopers that now are quite pretty with a really neat patina to them.

[Topher]

does anyone have a hertie-gertie? 

Hurdy gurdy. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy_gurdy

No, I don't, but it's on my "other" wish list. 

[rosso_rubino]

Mainly coins, but also stamps. I was a stamps collectors when young, than I stopped, but in 2006 I inherited a quite big stamp collection from an uncle, perios 1950 thru 2000, of course italian, I just need the time to better catalogue them.
Also few weapons, but few: 4 guns, 1 pistol, 1 carbine, 1 bayonet used from my father in the 2nd World War.

[TwoShadows]

Good to hear from you again Rosso_Rubino.  I too collected stamps for years and years but found their was not much of a secondary market for them in the U.S. We are also overwhelmed with releases so it became difficult and expensive to keep up. I used to have quite a gun collection but my loss of a 28 year job forced me to sell off most of the guns. While I am an avid outdoorsman my collection was mostly military weapons of the world. I do enjoy the shooting sports but like everything else it is hard to find the time to do the things we enjoy. My favorite shooting sport is Muzzleloading and while it took me years to finally try it I find it most rewarding. I own a black powder 44 cal. revolver which was made it Italy. Great numbers of Italian muzzleloaders over here and the quality is some of the finest in the world!

[rosso_rubino]

I forgot another so big collection I have that I can understand why, I collect wine since I should be quite expert, so above all in spring I visit several wineyards and I got wine unpacked and I bottle it, the average of bottle I have in my cellar is arount 800 botlles in late spring and around 500 in late winter, year over year.Anyway I collect wine NOT forever but just to drink, this is it use.

ick ...

[Nighthawk]

I, also, according to my wife, have too many hobbies. I collect some U.S. coins and notes, and some ancient and mediaeval coins, but focus mostly on foreign stuff. (It's cheaper!) I collect world coins and banknotes by type, and also some medals. I have a huge collection of Canadian and a few U.S. wooden nickels; I also collect stamps, post cards, and covers of Nazi Germany plus my world topical stamp collections: birds, airplanes, flowers, and flags. I am a rabid bibliophile (maybe bibliomaniac?) with well over 1000 books in my personal library (mostly history). I enjoy reading history, from ancient to modern, world and U.S. history. I am a gardening nut (flowers and veggies!) and I collect coffee mugs from around the world. Hmmm... Let's see..... what else is out there I can collect?   

[ElleKitty]

Postcards and teapots.  ^^

[Dumanyu]

In addition to the other stuff, I just picked up an NFL framed autographed picture of Hall of Fame Buffalo Bill Thurmon Thomas. The actual autograph is to commemmorate his induction, and make reference to the event.

[CoinCrusader42]

Nighthawk,

You stated you like to read history books.

Do you read Historical Novels?

I think the best set of books I ever read was "The Kent Family Chronicles."  What history lessons, and what fun to read!!

 

[CoinCrusader42]

I just added three baseball pennants to my collection.  One from our recent visit to Shea Stadium, one from Yankee Stadium, and one from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

 

[CoinCrusader42]

The only collection I value as much (nearly) as coins is my Presidential Campaign pin collection.

It has resided at the local museum for the past couple of months, and I will bring it back home soon.

I started an effort recently to find a pin for EVERY person running for President in 2008.  I have come close, but haven't yet been 100 percent successful.

I expect my latest purchase to arrive any day now.  The 14 pins I will receive will bring my Presidential candidate pins to a total of 19.

Getting close!!  It's a great hobby, and I hope one of our three kids, or six grandkids, will be interested, and add to the collections during future generations.

 

[Goose]

My secondary collection is of old U S maps. I started collecting them when I went to New Mexico for a few weeks to metal detect ghost towns there.....going there 6 straight yrs now. Even 'common' maps (1956-1960) show old towns that don't exist today. My oldest map is a 1919 New Mexico map with advertising ---'Breakfast, bacon, eggs, toast, coffee -25c' ---'Cabin rental, $2.00 a night', etc. It also seems that state issued maps command higher prices than oil company issued maps of the same years.

There was a 1924 state issued map (I think the 1st the state issued) of New Mexico that I bid on...a NICE map. My top bid was $31. Eventually, the map sold for $406. A few months later, the same year map came up for auction. Yep, sold for $408 to the same guy who bought the 1st 1924 map. That same guy purchased 2 identical maps for a total of $814....WOW, ....and we talk about high coin prices.

[CoinCrusader42]

Since my last post a few days ago, I have added 12 more Presidential Campaign buttons to my collection.  As far as I can tell, there are only two candidates who ran for President in 2008 for which I don't have a button (pin).

Great hobby.  Sure hope one of the grandkids will carry it on down the road in the future.

 

[CoinCrusader42]

I think my 2008 Presidential campaign pin collection is now complete -- with two more pins in the mail today.

For me, there is one big difference between collecting coins and collecting political items.

I get real excited looking over the pins, booklets and bumper tickers around Election Day.  However, when the Election is over, the Campaign items go into storage.

Coins, on the other hand, are looked at, and appreciated every day!!

 

[CoinCrusader42]

I now feel I have a complete Presidential Pin collection for the 2008 campaign.

I usually look them over the day before the Election, and the day after,  Then, into the storage box they go.

Coins are an everday joy.

For those who might be interested, the list which follows is my complete 2008 collection.

In some cases I have two campaign pins for the same candidate.

1.  John Edwards, Democrat.
2.  Ron Paul, Republican
3,  Sam Brownback, Republican
4.  Hillary, Democrat
5.  Huckabee, Republican
6.  Ted Weill, Reform Pary
7.  Chris Dodd, Democrat
8.  Charles Jay, Boston Team Party
9.  Gravel, Republican
10.  Dodge, Prohibition Party
11.  Hillary, Democrat
12. Moore, Socialist
13. Tancredo, Republican
14.  McKinne, Green Patry
15.  Clark, Republican
16.  Gloria La Riva, Socialist/PSL
17. Jerry White, Socialist Equality Party
18.  Bowles, America for Whites
19.  Diane Timplon, Constitution Partyu
20  Gingrish, Republican
22.  Hillary, Democrat
23.  Rudi Guliani, Republican
24.  Kucinch, Democrat
25. Huckabee, Repurbican

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

[Humpybong]

Congratulations Gary.....it is always nice to complete a collection...or at least have it up-to-date.

[AdamL]

I didn't know we had a prohibition party. What are they trying to prohibit?

[CoinCrusader42]

Still trying to prohibit alcohol consumption.

 

[AdamL]

Still trying to prohibit alcohol consumption.

 

Well I'm certainly not voting for them!

[Yass]

I now feel I have a complete Presidential Pin collection for the 2008 campaign.

                                                                                                           

Doesn't Barack Obama have a presidential pin? Or are they only for the losers?
When you cite Hillary, Is that Hillary Clinton?
Do all candidates have a pin?

[Triggersmob]

... and why do some have more than one pin?

[CoinCrusader42]

Sorry, I just assumed the Barack pins were a given.  Same with McCain.

I have probably 10 different Obama pins, and about a half dozen McCain pins.

In all cases the Vice Presidential candidate was also included on the pins.

My goal was to obtain all the "odd ball," third party candidates.

Strangest pin I ever collected was in 1968 -- the Outer Space Party.

My oldest pin was unfortunately stolen -- a McKinley.

Favorite pins are JFK, and then Robert Kennedy in 1968.

Last time I was really into campaign items (1970's), they were fairly inexpensive.  Now, to go back just one election, prices for many are in the $25 -- $35 range.

What's real rewarding is to find campaign pins at such places as second hand stores, yard sales, and flea markets.

And, yes, by Hillary I meant Hillary Clinton.

 

[CoinCrusader42]

Triggersmob, Sorry I missed your question.

Most all candidates have several pins which are given out at their party headquarters, or are available for purchase.  In the cases where I have more than one, it's because they appealed to me.

Campaign items are one area where the candidates spent some of those millions of dollars in donations.

 

[AdamL]

Hey Gary, a few months ago I acquired a box of wheat pennies that my late grandfather stashed away, probably about 25 years ago, and in it was a pin for a candidate by the name of Wallace. Did he run against Kennedy, or maybe Nixon? Fogive me for sounding ignorant but thats a bit before my time, lol.

[CoinCrusader42]

Adam,

Instead of taking the easy way out and running to my World Book Encyclopedia, let me see if I remember enough clearly.  Being a former history teacher, I should.  But, who knows.  Memory is a funny thing.  But my long term memory is pretty good however.

You are referring to George Wallace.  I think I have two of his pins, maybe three.

Wallace was a racist Governor of Alabama.  When the first blacks tried to enter the University of Alabama, he was there to stand in the doorway.  It was symbolic of course, and the kids entered.

Wallace ran for President twice, in 1968 and 1972.  He ran as a third party candidate -- the Independent Party I think.  Nixon won the elections, and I think the Democratic candidates were Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern.

In 1972 a guy named Bremer attempted to assassinate Wallace, and shot him four or five times.  Wallace survived, but due to spinal injuries spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.  Evidentally he found humility after that, and eventually took back much of the bigotry that made him famous.

He was one of the more successful third party candidates, winning several million votes, and, I think, picking up several electoral votes.

The only other thing I can remember about him is that when term limits stopped him from running for Governor again, his wife ran, and won, promising the voters that George would do the governing.

Wallace was extremely popular in his home state (Alabama) as well as the south in general in those days.

Hope that's accurate.

A Wallace pin is a good keepsake to own.

 

[AdamL]

Thanks for the history lesson. It actually jogged my memory, and I remember hearing most of that before. I never heard about his wife becoming governor and promising that Geroge would do the governing though. lol. I don't know how well that would go over in modern times though.

[CoinCrusader42]

I just acquired two more Presidential campaign pins.  I already had pins for these candidates, but the new pins are different.

One is "Tancredo for President."  The pin also states "Stop Amnesty."  Tom Tancredo is from my state (Colorado), and I met him once.

The other pin is of Brian Moore (President) and Stewart Alexander (Vice President).  Pin says "Stop the War!  Vote Socialist."

My political interest is currently waning, so I think I will box up my pins, then maybe dig them out (God willing) in 2012.

 

[AuldFartte]

I know. I'm incredibly late to this party. I currently only collect a few things:

Coins (of course!)
Several hundred books on a variety of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction.
I used to have a few guitars. I'm down to one.
Handmade custom knives. I have several.
Firearms, mostly Rugers and mostly stainless steel, most unfired.
Crystals and gemstones.
A handful of fossils.
A few Native American arrow and spear heads.
Southwestern American art.
Native American pottery - several modern and a few very old pieces.

That's about it for now 

[Humpybong]

I have changed the items I collect over the last couple of years.   No coins or banknotes only collecting transit tokens from around the world.

Have just over 1000 from USA and a few hundred from UK.    Also a number of metro token from old Russian countries.
A number of other counties represented in my collection as well.