IRVINE, CA.- Who says a penny isn't worth much these days? Ten century-old Lincoln cents sold for a combined $1.1 million in an auction Sunday night, according to GreatCollections (www.GreatCollections.com) of Irvine, California, the auction house that offered the valuable pennies.

“One of the ten, a first-year of issue Lincoln cent from 1909 with designer Victor D. Brenner’s initials, V.D.B., on the ‘tail’s side’ sold for $365,625, a record price for that coin,” said Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections. “Four other pennies dated between 1909 and 1915 and also in superb quality brought more than $100,000 each.”

The ten pennies were specially struck proof coins made for collectors by the United States Mint in Philadelphia in the early years of the Lincoln cents. All are still in pristine, mint red condition and sold for a combined total of $1,113,174.

“The coins were from a New York collector who carefully assembled his collection over a 50-year period of searching for the finest known coins of their kind. He won many awards over the years for his Red Copper Collection,” explained Russell.

The designer’s initials at the bottom of the back side of the cents were removed soon after the production of Lincoln cents began in 1909. They are now located on the front of the coins just above the rim below Lincoln’s arm.

The 1909 V.D.B proof cent was authenticated and graded mint state red 67+ (on the numismatic grading scale of 1 to 70) by Professional Coin Grading Service. It is tied for the finest known surviving example of less than 1,200 specially struck by the Mint in 1909, the centennial of President Lincoln’s birth.

“It is the king of Lincoln proof cents,” stated Russell.