(MONEY Magazine) – NEVER MIND THE FLAT TAX, THE FEDERAL DEFICIT OR even family values. To thousands of Americans, the '96 presidential election is about one thing: grabbing up all the pins, pens and posters they can get their paws on. "This is when collectors really get energized," says David J. Frent, a director of the 3,000-member American Political Items Collectors (APIC). Experts say one out of 20 of today's giveaways could be worth $100 or more in a couple of decades; the rest will never top $10 to $15. Best bets: '96 losers who go on to win in, say, 2008. Here's the scoop on campaign collectibles past and present.

Hot: Very scarce modern items, such as a prototype Kennedy/Johnson button from 1960, with the slogan YOU KNOW WHO'S GONNA WIN, currently worth $1,000.

Not: Most mass-produced pins of popular candidates, such as Eisenhower: "people held on to his campaign items," says Frent.

Entry level (up to $100): Common antiques such as an 1840 coin with William Henry Harrison on one side and a log cabin on the other, valued at about $25. Modern mementos, such as a Jackie Kennedy AMERICA'S FIRST LADY pin worth nearly $100.

Mid-range ($100 to $1,000): Campaign antiques like a 1789 brass clothing button for George Washington, with the phrase LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT, worth about $1,000. Also, unusually rare recent buttons, a 1980 pin made for the Republican Convention and featuring Ronald Reagan in a cowboy hat, worth $700.

High end ($1,000 and up): Extremely obscure early 20th-century pins, such as one for the 1924 Democratic ticket of John W. Davis and Charles Bryan, valued at about $2,000.

Where to buy and sell: Auctions, flea markets, through the APIC's monthly newspaper, the Band Wagon (free with a $30 membership; P.O. Box 455, Oakhurst, N.J. 07755), and the Political Gallery catalogue ($20 for four issues; 5335 N. Tacoma Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. 46220).

Resources: Running for President (Simon & Schuster, 1994, in libraries); Encyclopedia of Political Buttons (Americana & Collectibles Press, P.O. Box 1444, York, Pa. 17405).

--Karen Hube