DALLAS, TX.- Get the message out to the masses: the finest collection of political pins from one of the most popular presidents in American history will land in new collections when it is sold February 21-22 at Heritage Auctions.

The surging interest in The Roger Kimmel Collection Americana & Political Signature® Auction at Heritage is more than understandable. The collection is rich in wonderfully conditioned, infrequently offered presidential artifacts, with a specific focus on Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge. The breadth of the collection offers a clear view of Kimmel’s fascination with presidents and their collections.

Nearly half of the auction’s 916 lots relate to Roosevelt, who was the 26th American president, and much more. Before he took office, he was a historian and a popular writer. He led the reform faction of Republicans in the New York State Legislature and later served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under his presidential predecessor, William McKinley. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish army in Cuba, and, when he returned, was elected Governor of New York in 1898. Two years later, he was McKinley’s vice presidential candidate on a ticket that easily won the 1900 election.

Kimmel’s love of history started when he was a high school student in Queens, New York. “I read a lot of history books,” he says, “and I became interested in the election process.”

Kimmel’s interest in the electoral process grew into a passion on a family trip to New Mexico. After two days visiting art galleries, Kimmel says, “I became bored and wandered off. I found a shop with old political buttons and was immediately drawn to the historical significance of the buttons.”

Thus began a collecting interest that lasted decades for Kimmel, a former law partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, Vice Chairman of investment banking firm Rothschild Inc., and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Virginia School of Law.

The auction includes 447 lots relating to Roosevelt. “This is the greatest collection of Theodore Roosevelt political items ever offered at auction,” says Curtis Lindner, Americana & Political Consignment Director at Heritage. “Roger spent years — decades — building this collection. It is elite in quantity and in quality. He always pursued the best of the best.”

Among the items that will be in play is a Roosevelt & Fairbanks: 20th Century Club Jugate that features an image of the front of a train, with portraits of Roosevelt and his Vice President, Charles Fairbanks, in the front windows of the lead engine, flanking a headlight that reads, “To Washington 1904.” Made by American Badge Company of Chicago, it is widely considered one of the best Roosevelt buttons in the hobby, and is an undeniable rarity: with no known auction records, it is either exceptionally rare, perhaps even unique.

The tandem of Roosevelt and Fairbanks also are available in the auction on a “Yankee” model Jugate Pocket Watch, the face of which features oval-shape portraits of each of the candidates, along with the phrase “Protection and Prosperity.”

Collectors often are drawn to jugate-style buttons — those featuring two portraits side by side. One remarkable example is a Theodore Roosevelt: Phenomenal President/Rough Rider Jugate that features dual portraits of the 26th president, one image on the left of Roosevelt in a suit, on the right an image of him in his Rough Rider uniform, celebrating his time as a part of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. Titled “For President Roosevelt 1904,” it was copyrighted in 1902 by T.H.P.B.&N. Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, and is another treasure that very possibly is unique.

Rather than traditional photographs and/or images, some of the lots in the auction include cartoons or caricatures. One exceptional example that is considered one of the top Roosevelt pinbacks is a Theodore Roosevelt: 1-3/4-inch TR in the Ark Cartoon Pin put out by the Goerke Co. to welcome TR home from his African safari. The pin depicts TR in a “Noah’s Ark” filled with wildlife from Africa in an image in which both the hunter and his live specimens smile broadly.

“Theodore Roosevelt is considered one of the greatest — and is unquestionably one of the most collected — of American presidents,” says Don Ackerman, Heritage’s Managing Director of Political Americana, “and this material is as impressive as he was. Frankly, we have been blown away by the breadth and quality of this collection.”

Before he became president, Roosevelt was Vice President under McKinley, a partnership that is celebrated on a massive McKinley & Roosevelt: The Mighty 10-Inch Jugate. This button is extraordinary because of both the enormity and the bold color, and rarely reaches the collecting community in such exceptional condition.

Candidates contending for a job often will get described as “throwing their hat in the ring” — an image that is brought to life on a Theodore Roosevelt: Great “Hat is in the Ring” Button that shows TR’s in a boxing ring bearing the words “Roosevelt 1912,” symbolic of his candidacy. This in-demand keepsake comes in two sizes, but this 1-1/4-inch version is larger, as is its demand among collectors.

Coolidge is featured in 79 lots in the auction, including a massive (6-inch) Coolidge & Dawes: Jumbo “Our Candidates” Jugate that is widely considered one of the two best Coolidge jugates. It was made by Bastian Brothers of Rochester, the former jewelry store that was founded in 1895.

Sometimes, the appeal has to do as much with the message as with the person delivering the message. Such is the case with a Coolidge & Dawes: Great Slogan Jugate and Bonus with oval-shaped portraits of the 1924 Republicans on a 1-1/4-inch pinback that bears the slogan, “Coolidge & Dawes For The Nation's Cause.” Made by Parisian Novelty of Chicago, it is considered the other half of the buttons deemed the best Coolidge jugates.

Other top Coolidge items in the auction include, but are not limited to:

• A Coolidge & Dawes: Rare 2-1/8-inch Real Photo Capitol Jugate Pocket Mirror
• A Coolidge & Dawes: Ultra Rare 1-3/4-inch Real Photo Jugate
• A Calvin Coolidge: “Deeds Not Words” Button
• A Calvin Coolidge: “Sane and Safe” Picture Pin

Top items in the auction that deal with neither Roosevelt nor Coolidge include, but are not limited to:

• A pair of William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan Pro And Anti-Expansion Buttons

• A John Bell: Vibrant Campaign Flag

• A George Washington: “GW in Oval” Inaugural Button

• An Alf Landon: Classic “Land On Washington” Cartoon Pin

• A George Washington: “Linked States” Inaugural Button

• An Abraham Lincoln: Back-to-Back Ferrotype

• A Henry Clay: “American Statesman” Stogie Case