Older political memorabilia is even more valuable. A button from the 1924 campaign of John Davis and Charles Bryan sold for $56,000, while one from 1920 of James Cox and then-relatively-unknown Franklin Roosevelt went for the gigantic price of $80,000!

http://www.thehill.com/news/080404/ebay.aspx

It isn't just political stuff, though. My kids worked for the summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. They brought home bags full of Olympic pins, which I sold on eBay. They made much more money from eager eBay buyers than they were paid for working concession stands.

Even the most horrific events bring profits. About three hours after the twin towers were hit on 9/11, I checked eBay and there were already newspaper editions for sale. Considering how the media poked microphones in the faces of sobbing parents at Columbine, I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

I remember that my grandmother had a giant “I Like Ike” button, a memento of his 1952 presidential campaign. Rats! Where is it now?

The moral to the story: never, never, never throw anything away. It might be worth Big Bucks on eBay one of these days. Course, the cost of storing all that 'stuff' might eat up your profits, but you never know – you, too, might have an $80,000 windfall.