So you’ve got yourself a pretty nice stamp collection and you’re thinking about starting to collect something else. You’ve considered quarters, but what 12 year old and his grandmother don’t collect quarters, right? You could collect bottle caps or antiques, there are plenty of expensive collectibles out there, but you want to keep it small, and affordable.

“What can I collect?” you ask yourself. Lapel Pins.

Not only are lapel pins affordable and small, they’re out there in huge numbers. There are a ton of lapel pins worthy of collecting out there, and many have a great cause or meaning. When I think about collecting lapel pins, one of the first things that comes to mind are the Olympics. Olympic pin trading has been around for 20+ years, and every new game brings along with it a new lapel pin. Many collectors hold their Olympic pin collection with extremely high regard, and many are worth a lot of money!

Another theme of lapel pin collecting is Disney pins. Disney pins can be very expensive to collect, but they’re out there in large quantities, and can be sourced from public and private places all over the world. There are dozens of internet sites dedicated to collecting and trading Disney themed lapel pins.

What Theme Gets You Excited?

What topic gets you going when you think of lapel pins? Perhaps world war II pins, or presidential campaign pins come to mind. Maybe you like Coke or Pepsi or another consumer product that was marketed by lapel pins during the 50′s and 60′s. Maybe musical-themed pins tickle your fancy. Even motorcycle riders wear and collect lapel pins. Many bikers collect biker pins and biker lapel pins. Whatever gets you excited, I bet you there is a wealth of lapel pins to be had featuring just what you’re looking for.

Where Can I Find Pins for My Collection?

Sites like eBay give way to many collectors, but also private pin collector sites feature many renowned lapel pins. A lot of collectors sell off or trade their private collections. Many times a collector will have multiples of a certain pin design, so they can afford to trade off their additional pins for others they might be missing to complete their collection. Some collectors have pins remade and sell imitations or remakes of original pins (watch out for frauds, people make a killing selling fake reproduction pins of expensive originals)

How Can I Display My Lapel Pins

There are a number of ways to display your lapel pin collection. There are plastic display boxes, velvet display cases and pin collector bags (like a purse for lapel pins, HAH!) Anyhow, do a google search for pin collecting display or lapel pin display and you’re bound to find something to fit your needs.

I have my own very large pin collection of about 25,000 lapel pins. All of them are hand-chosen and I know each one by heart (ok, not every single one, but it’s very close!). I don’t get into trading them too much, but a lot of times while I peruse the pin collector forums I’ll see someone looking for a pin I have and I give it away or exchange it for a few bucks here and there. Hey, I have to eat too, right?