Heritage Auctions

The only known John C. Breckenridge 1860 portrait campaign flag, Democrat for president against Abraham Lincoln, highlights Heritage Auctions' Nov. 17 Americana & Political Memorabilia Auction in Dallas

DALLAS, TX -- A wildly uncommon 1860 John C. Breckenridge presidential campaign flag - long considered impossible to obtain, if even extant - will highlight Heritage Auctions' Nov. 17 Grand Format Americana Auction, live online (www.HA.com) and in-person at Heritage's Dallas headquarters. It is estimated at $75,000+.

"This is one of the most important finds ever in the political collecting hobby," said Tom Slater, Director of Americana at Heritage Auctions. "There were four candidates for the 1860 election and portrait banner flags have long been known for three of the candidates - several different in some cases - but no one has ever found a portrait flag for the Breckinridge & Lane ticket, only a 'name' flag, and that’s in an institutional collection. It may have taken nearly 150 years of looking, but this flag was found under the floorboards of a Philadelphia house and now we have it for auction."

 It's not an overstatement to say that a flag like this one of the “holy grail” items for Political and Americana collectors. Now, as this flag prepares for its collecting debut, only one person can possibly have a complete collection of these portrait banner flags for this very important 1860 election.

John C. Breckinridge was the incumbent Vice President, under James Buchanan, during the 1860 election campaign. Like Lincoln, Breckenridge hailed from Kentucky and represented the Southern Democrats in a fractured Democratic Party. His platform was pro-slavery and he garnered the third largest amount of popular votes while coming in second to Lincoln in the electoral vote tally. As an interesting aside, after losing the election and as the outgoing VP, Breckenridge actually administered th oath of office to Hannibal Hamlin, Lincoln’s Vice President.

"While campaign banners in the style of American flags made their first appearance with the 1840 candidacy of William Henry Harrison," said Heritage Auctions' Slater, "and were made in a variety of sizes and styles for most presidential tickets up through the late 1800s, a surprisingly small number have survived. Particularly prized are flags of 1860 and 1864, endorsing Abraham Lincoln and his various opponents."

In 1860 the Democratic Party fragmented, and there were a total of four major presidential candidates: Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John Bell, and Breckinridge, Buchanan's vice president during the previous term and the candidate of what was left of the historic Democratic Party. Six different varieties of Lincoln portrait flags are known, while three for Stephen Douglas and a single style for Bell are also accounted for. Conspicuously absent, however, are flags picturing candidate Breckinridge. As of today, however, all of that has changed.

"This literally may well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Slater. "For the top collectors of important political memorabilia this is the proverbial missing link. There's a good chance that another one of these flags will never present itself again."

Heritage Auctions, headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, is the world’s third largest auction house, with annual sales more than $700 million, and 470,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HA.com. 

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