COLFAX, Iowa — An east-central Iowa man officially holds the Guiness Book of World Record collection of pencils. Aaron Bartholmey, of Colfax, invited the community to look at his pencil collection as he counted every single one over the summer. At the time, the Guinness World Record for such a collection sat around 24,000 items. After he sat down and conducted another count, he found his collection of pencils amounted to 69,255. The collection includes everything from local business advertisements to a 100-year-old pencil, and even one with a high school basketball schedule. In July, counters from the American Pencil Collectors Society counted the pencils. Then, Bartholmey submitted the proposal to the Guinness World Records. Three months later, the record was certified.

While Bartholmey’s collection rewrote the record books, he says he’s already on the hunt for more. The childhood hobby that started after a flea market visit with his grandpa turned into one for the recordbooks. ‘It’s pretty unbelievable to know I hold that title and officially have the largest collection in the world!’ Bartholmey wrote in a statement.