During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama revealed that he collected Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comic books, leading to a flood of online and print speculation over which issues he might own, what other comics he might like and what his tastes indicated about his leadership style.
But now, eight years later, neither 2016 presidential candidate has been portrayed as a serious collector.
Donald Trump, an avid golfer, owns a few classic cars (Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini) and historic homes. Otherwise he has shown no real interest in either collecting or antiques, though in a 2012 interview he revealed he collects the many bibles his fans send to him.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, made headlines last week when her daughter Chelsea presented her with an antique suffragette’s sash, to mark the candidate’s 69th birthday.
The sash, made from yellow felt, was produced between 1910-20 and is thought to be worth up to $10,000.
Elsewhere, Hillary has been criticised for not having enough hobbies, resulting in what some say is an ill-defined persona compared with presidents of the last 100 years. This is despite a professed interest in crossword puzzles and speedwalking.
But according to others she does have an interest in collecting. In a recent interview with her husband Bill, it emerged that Hillary also enjoys the occasional “positive reality TV show” – such as the US Antiques Roadshow.
In a different interview, Hillary commented that “we feel like we are the antiques on a roadshow when it comes to politics”.
