A never-before-seen 1844 presidential campaign flag featuring the slogan "The Same Old Coon" has sold for $45,350 in the US.
 The flag was used in the presidential campaign of 1840 between Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren |
June 21 saw the circa 1840 Clay and Frelinghuysen campaign flag, which depicts Henry Clay as a racoon in the act of skinning a fox, sell with a 229% increase on its $15,000 top estimate.
The fox is thought to represent his rival, eighth US President, Martin Van Buren
A spokesperson for Cowan's Auctions commented: "Two bidders on the phone and internet battled for minutes over the item, which eventually sold to the phone bidder."
Sought-after daguerreotypes (the glossy, pictorial results of an early photographic process) also performed well.
An exceptional sixth plate stereodaguerreotype created by manufacturing firm Southworth and Hawes starring Samuel Gilman Brown, President of Hamilton College, sold for $17,625.
A half plate daguerreotype of a 49ers mining scene brought $16,450, and a half plate daguerreotype of the gold rush realized $16,450.
Other remarkable items in the sale include Blind Tom, the African American musical prodigy's flute, which sold for $14,100, and an exceptional collection of over 18,000 cigar labels, which made $18,800.
Katie Horstman, Cowan's American History director commented:
"From the never-before-seen Clay and Frelinghuysen 1844 Campaign Flag, which brought $49,350, to the Alexander Gardner Photograph of President Lincoln at Antietam and the Mathew Brady Portrait of Robert E. Lee and Staff, we were elated with the strong prices realized in Friday's American History Auction."
Items relating to the American civil war generally do very well at auction.
In October 2012, an extensive documentary archive pertaining to the conflict sold for $46,000 - a 207% increase on its $15,000 top estimate.
We currently have this fantastic rice paper reproduction of the American Declaration of Independence in stock.
