Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Nov. 13 (UPI) -- An Iowa man was officially awarded a Guinness World Records title for his collection of 69,255 pencils. Aaron Bartholmey, of Colfax, held a public counting event during the summer with help from the American Pencil Collectors Society and submitted the resulting total to Guinness World Records with ample evidence. Advertisement Bartholmey has now received word from the record-keeping organization that he officially owns the world's largest pencil collection. "Numbers-wise, I knew I could beat the record," Bartholmey told KCCI-TV. He said counting was the real challenge. "It was a lot of work put into getting that event together and doing the whole count. So it's really exciting," Bartholmey said. Bartholmey's 69,255 pencils include commemorative pencils dating back more than 100 years, advertising pencils, pencils designed to dial rotary phones and sports pencils bearing team schedules. "I've just always enjoyed the stories that the pencils can tell," Bartholmey told The Washington Post in July. "What I collect, it's not the plain No. 2 pencils." Read More Loose emu caught on doorbell camera in England Oregon police rescue deer trapped between bars of metal fence Lizards, frog taking nighttime shelter on Florida woman's window