Take good care of your change, it might pay off in a couple of centuries! A collection of 301 rare pennies earned its owner the incredible sum of $10.7 million at an auction this week-end.

Walter Husak was still flabbergasted at the end of the event that took place at the Long Beach Convention Center, calling the total “stupendous.” Husak invested millions and an enormous amount of time tracking and purchasing the large cents, that is antique cooper coins about the size of a quarter. 

Hearing the announcement for the auction, about 200 coin collectors from all the corners of the world showed up on Friday night. There have been also bids via phone and internet, too.

In about four hours only 13 out of the 301 coins remained unsold, the others gathering the fabulous $10.7 million in exchange of $2,88 in rare coins. Moreover, new records have been set, outstripping the existing rare pennies sales records, with $632,500 each for two coins from the 18th century.

Husak succeeded in gathering pennies from early dates, back from the days of Washington and Jefferson, 1793 to 1814.

The success of the auction was ensured by the high rarity of the valuable pennies. “These coins had been off the market for decades. It was a feeding frenzy,” explained Greg Rohan, president of Heritage Auction Galleries.

Husak decided to give away his collection, for fear that he would lose the money invested. However, in the end, he realized that he had won more than twice the initial investment.