China's largest auction house sold 118 complete sets of "A Sampler of Chinese Cigarette Packages" on November 11 at a total price of more than two million yuan (some 133, 000 US dollars).

The China Guardian Auctions Co. Ltd. auctioned the albums through public bidding from October 11 through November 9.

Guardian's senior authorized auctioneer, Kou Qin, made known the final bids to the public this morning.

Among a total of 143 bidders, the 65 highest were able to buy the collections. A Hong Kong buyer was the highest bidder at 16, 400 yuan.

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration edited the albums, which are the first collections of original cigarette packages made after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The 342 packages were chosen from among nearly 3,000 cigarette packages made by 100 tobacco companies in China.

Experts say the albums have high value both as collectibles and for their future appreciation.

The 342-page albums, each weighing 20 kilograms, were issued as limited editions.