You may think of pinback buttons or badges as quirky pieces of flair that fit right in with a backpack or jean jacket. But pinback buttons have been around for much longer than the places we’re used to seeing them, and they’ve got a relatively large and committed base of collectors. Antique, vintage, and historically significant pinbacks form an active memorabilia market. Collectors are especially interested in pinbacks from the 1890s to the 1940s.
What kinds of pinbacks are valuable to collectors?
Pinback collections tend to fall into several distinct categories. The first are political pinbacks featuring campaign slogans and images. Buttons in this category tend to fetch $10 to $25 if they’re undamaged and over 120 years old. Yet there are exceptions. A Cox and Roosevelt 1920 campaign button is worth $100,000.
Advertising pinbacks form the next category. Here you’re generally looking for early 19th century ads. Focus on pinbacks that originated somewhere between 1901 and 1964. Some of these can fetch much more impressive prices. For example, an AC Spark Plugs pin featuring Sparky the Horse (AC’s mascot) could auction for $77.
Finally, there are buttons that are simply interesting or fun, featuring slogans and cartoon characters, or which are designed to express interest in certain television shows, rock stars, or fandoms. These can run the gamut depending on how rare or interesting they are.
What makes a pinback valuable?
An individual pinback is rarely worth much on its own, but keep in mind how inexpensive the raw materials are worth pennies: a stamped-out piece of metal with a pin on the back, often mass-produced. Given that provenance, it’s remarkable how much certain pinback buttons can be worth, and that’s entirely a product of their historical pedigree and their story.
Collections tend to fetch the highest prices. There are exceptions. Collectors may take an interest in pinbacks in the hopes of adding a button to a broader advertising, petroliana, or aviation collection.
Yet if you have a big box of seemingly random pinbacks in your home, you might be sitting on a tidy sum. 100 pinbacks worth $5 to $30 each can add up, even if they’re not part of a curated collection.
The buttons that are worth the most are undamaged, rust-free pieces that still look as good as they did on the day they were produced, but there can be a market for slightly damaged pieces, too.
Authenticity matters, of course. There are plenty of counterfeit buttons out there. Collectors care only about the genuine articles.
Contact us
We work with clients throughout Massachusetts and the rest of New England, both in a live-auction setting and in an online auction. Call Central Mass Auctions at 508-612-6111, or email us.
