The flurry of bidding in Hake’s Americana & Collectibles Auction #218 has come to a close. Political and pop culture memorabilia sales led to another $1 million auction for the company.

The auction began closing on Tuesday, July 12, 2016 with political memorabilia, pins, coins, ribbons, Civil Rights pieces, Santa Claus buttons, advertising items, baseball collectibles, and much more.

Taking top honors for the Tuesday closings was an 1860 parade flag “For President Abram Lincoln for Vice President Hannibal Hamlin,” which finished at $31,625. This exemplary 11” x 17” glazed cotton 1860 parade flag contains the combination of the misspelling of Lincoln’s first name and pleasing design of stars that makes it a special example.

The second finisher on Tuesday was the “Free Gene Debs” very rare portrait button, which leapt to $11,511. The 1” rarity features a floating head portrait identical to the one used on the early “Convict No. 2253” buttons and dates the button to 1918-1920.

Rounding out the top three Tuesday items was the oval “Eugene V. Debs” portrait pocket mirror that pushed beyond the $2,000-5,000 estimate to close at $7,603. This 1-3/4” x 2-7/8” tall knockout piece depicts a right facing portrait of Debs, likely dating from his 1912 campaign on the Socialist ticket.

The auction closed on Thursday, July 14, featuring non-sport cards, Japanese robots, Mego figures, concert posters, TV screen-worn costumes, Disneyana, Man from UNCLE collectibles, space toys and robots, playsets, autographs, and over 3,000 comics.

The top lot on Thursday was the Cartoon Adventures complete Buck Rogers strip card subset that crushed the $1,000 to $5,000 estimate, ending at $13,775. This complete Buck Rogers subset contains 24 cards, numbered 425-448. The rarely offered set is in NM to NM+ condition.

The I Love Lucy “Desi’s Conga Drum” rare boxed instrument brought $6,957. The 19” tall conical cardboard drum with metal drumhead rims depicts an illustration of Desi Arnaz playing the drum. It was sold with the original plain cardboard shipping box marked “Conga Drum.”

The 1979 Mego Aquaman on dark purple card excelled well beyond the estimate of $200 to $400, realizing $6,590. The 8” tall poseable figure with polyester suit came with the original punched blister card.

All items include the 15% buyer’s premium.

To review the entirety of Auction #218 closing prices, view the Top Tuesday and Top Wednesday/Thursday links on Hake’s website.