Getting the message out to the masses was one of the key tasks political memorabilia served. The finest collection of political pins from one of the most popular presidents in American history will land in new collections when it is soldon Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22,at Heritage Auctions. The surging interest inThe Roger Kimmel Collection Americana & Political Signature Auctionat Heritage is more than understandable within this field. The collection is rich in high conditioned, infrequently offered presidential artifacts, with a specific focus on Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge. Nearly half of the auctions 916 lots relate to Roosevelt, who was the 26thAmerican 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 McKinleys vice presidential candidate on a ticket that easily won the 1900 election. Kimmels love of history started when he was a high school student in Queens, N.Y. I read a lot of history books, he says, and I became interested in the election process. Kimmels interest in the electoral process grew into a passion on a family trip to New Mexico. After two days visiting art galleries, Kimmel says, Ibecame 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, vice chairman of an investment banking firm, 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 aRoosevelt & 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, Ill., 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 seen on aYankee 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 aTheodore Roosevelt President/Rough Rider jugatewith dual portraits of the 26thpresident, titled For President Roosevelt 1904. It was copyrighted in 1902 by T.H.P.B.&N. Company of Terre Haute, Ind., and is another treasure that is possibly unique. Rather than traditional photographs and/or images, some of the lots in the auction include cartoons or caricatures. One example is aTheodore Roosevelt 1.75-inch TR in the Ark cartoon pin by the Goerke Co. to welcome TR home from his African safari. The pin depicts TR in a Noahs Ark filled with wildlife from Africa. Theodore Roosevelt is considered one of the greatest, and is unquestionably one of the most collected, of American presidents, said Don Ackerman, Heritages 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. Coolidge is featured in 79 lotsin the auction, including a large (six-inch)Coolidge & Dawes jumbo Our Candidates jugatethat is considered one of the two best Coolidge jugates. It was made by Bastian Brothers of Rochester, N.Y., 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 aCoolidge & Dawes great slogan jugate with oval-shaped portraits of the 1924 Republicans on a 1.25-inch pinback that bears the slogan, Coolidge & Dawes For The Nations Cause. Made by Parisian Novelty of Chicago, Ill. To learn more, visit www.HA.com.