Where Obama's stock is high

Pity poor John McCain. Not only did he lose the election, but his campaign buttons are selling for 75 percent off at a Philadelphia souvenir shop, while President-elect Barack Obama gets the title and the full-price trinkets.

Ah, America.

In the land of the free and the home of political collectibles, Obama's win and coming inauguration have the geegaw world agog with possibilities and profits - two commodities in short supply these days.

"It's starting to pick up," Angie Harlan, manager of the Making History store in the Bourse, said yesterday about sales of her recently arrived Obama inventory. "This time of year is not our busy time, but as people find out we have this, people are coming in."

Collecting presidential paraphernalia has always been popular. But it's really hot right now.

"You can tell our whole history by looking at these souvenirs," said Mark Warda, author of 200 Years of Political Campaign Collectibles. "They're like a window on the past."

And in Obama's case, a window on the future.

"If you have a collection of buttons, you'll see there's someone different," Warda said. "It was all white men for a while. Slowly, women and nonwhites are starting to appear."

It was slow yesterday at Making History, ironically because the Man Himself-elect was huddled with the 48 governors meeting nearby at Congress Hall, and authorities had streets around the Bourse cordoned off.

Sales were better at the National Constitution Center's gift shops. Coffee mugs with a photo of Obama sold out quickly, a clerk said. Only a few President Obama keychains and inaugural magnets remained on display.

David Holmes, a Briton residing in Paris but visiting his daughter who lives and works in Philadelphia, examined an Obama item. He was thinking his wife might buy something, but hoping she wouldn't.

"My wife is an Obama fan. She's given plenty of money," he joked.

Street vendor Peter Brown was trying to take advantage of Obama's visit by wheeling his small cart full of posters to the corner of Sixth and Sansom Streets. Bundled-up passersby eyed "America's First Couple," "America's First Family," and a poster with a close-up of Obama's face above the White House and below it the words, "44th president of the United States of America."

In Washington, D.C., Brown said, they sell for $10. "But here in Philadelphia, everybody is broke, so five bucks."

Of course, you don't have to brave the cold to browse and buy Obama paraphernalia.

Television commercials depict happy families smiling at their very own commemorative Obama inaugural plates and coins, accompanied by instructions on how to get that same patriotic glow by calling now.

And eBay is a virtual treasure trove of political collectibles. Fetching the most money may be the series of Obama posters done for his campaign by well-known artists.

One already-iconic poster, with a colorful drawing of Obama and the word Hope, signed by artist Shepard Fairey, was being offered on the auction Web site yesterday with a $700 opening bid (free shipping, in case you're interested). Expect to pay a couple hundred for an unsigned official print.

Commemorative plates and coins also can be found on the Web sites of the mints that issue them.

The Franklin Mint's "special-edition Barack Obama presidential commemorative coin," a $50 value, the mint says, is selling now for $9.95.

A photo, a woven tapestry throw, and a "President Barack Obama Inaugural Medal . . . a limited edition crafted of .999 fine silver and plated in 24kt gold!" are among the Danbury Mint's commemorative offerings, though all three were on back order.

Such items, limited though they are and accompanied by certificates of authenticity, may not rise in value as much as a button made for a specific event that has the likenesses of Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden on it, said collectible expert Warda.

"Those are fake collectibles," he said. "The highest price is usually what they're sold for."

Value depends not only on the scarcity of an item, but its desirability among collectors - and items with the president and his running mate are more precious. The "holy grail" for political collectors, according to Warda, is a 1920 campaign button from the Democratic presidential candicacy of Ohio Gov. James Cox and his young running mate, a gentleman named Franklin D. Roosevelt.

That could mean collectors will pin their hopes on the McCain-Palin buttons now selling for a mere 50 cents.

"Maybe McCain buttons will be rare," Warda speculated, "because everybody threw them away."