What are the most expensive personalised registration plates ever sold in the UK?

Personalised registration plates don’t have to be expensive, as we make it very easy to find one to suit your budget using our number plate search. However, over the years some people have splashed out on the most exclusive reg plates in existence, which as you can image came with some eye-watering price tags.

From a registration fit for a king to a simple arrangement with a not so humble price tag, here are the 15 most expensive personalised registration plates ever sold in the UK and how much they lightened the wallets of their owners.

K1 NGS

As regal as they come, the K1 NGS number plate was sold for £231,000, allegedly to a Saudi Arabian Sultan, which is rather fitting.

1 RH

Robert Harveson, a retired businessman from Surrey, decided that his hard-earned nest egg could accommodate the acquisition of a number plate that reflects his initials. At £247,652, it’s significantly more than the average UK pension pot!

51 NGH

Though 51 NGH is an excellent number plate for someone with the surname Singh, at £254,000 it was two-and-a-half times more expensive than the S1 NGH plate was sold for years earlier. Just goes to show how much difference the year of issue can have on prices!

GS 1

As exclusive number plates go, GS 1 was only expected to sell for about £85,000. Imagine the auctioneer’s delight when the final bid was a very respectable £258,775.

VIP 1

A very important person indeed purchased VIP 1, as it was sold to Roman Abramovitch for £285,000. The plate was originally commissioned specifically for when Pope John Paul II visited Ireland, giving it a unique and interesting history.

GB 1

The registration plate GB 1 sold for £325,000 and was proudly placed on the owner’s Rolls Royce. Rule Britannia and all that!

M1

Was this plate named after the motorway that connects London to Leeds? Who knows. What we do know is that it sold for £330,000 to Mike McComb, who bought it for his son’s sixteenth birthday. Not a bad gift for a learner driver!

1 S

There’s actually very little information available regarding the buyer of the 1 S number plate. We do know that it sold for £340,000 in 2010 and legend has it that it now resides on a beautiful Rolls Royce Phantom. Have you ever spotted it whilst out driving?

1 D

Sold for the very specific figure of £352,411 (clearly no one could quite stretch to £352,412), 1 D exchanged hands at an auction at Ardencote Manor Hotel and Country Club in Claverdon. The plate was purchased by a very successful businessman for his wife’s birthday, because clearly a box of Milk Tray simply doesn’t cut it anymore.

S1

Hoots mon! S1 was the first ever number plate to be issued in Scotland and it original owner was politician and judge Sir John Hay Athole MacDonald. Believe it or not, this plate was bought for £397,500 and placed on a rather surprising vehicle… a Skoda.

F1

It’s no surprise that the F1 number plate fetched a pretty penny but it wasn’t Lewis Hamilton or another Formula 1 driver who snapped it up. Purchased by entrepreneur Afzal Khan for £440,000, he later declined an offer of £6million for it, which proves just how much he loves this exclusive number plate.

RR 1

Was the RR 1 number plate purchased by a Rolls Royce owner? We certainly hope so. What we do know is that it fetched £472,000 and the plate dates all the way back to 1925. Before that, this number plate had been in the hands of an owner since the 1960s, when it was purchased for less than £5,000. Even taking inflation into account, that’s an enormous increase in value!

G 1

Purchased for exactly half a million quid in 2011, G 1 was the most expensive number plate ever sold… until the following year. We’re happy to say it was placed on a stunning Aston Martin.

X 1

The following year, 2012, saw the X 1 plate sell for £502,500. This is a truly classic registration, as it was first created in December 1903. Apparently it’s now worth more than one million pounds due to its extreme rarity and fascinating heritage. This one remained the most expensive number plate ever sold in the UK for all of two years…

25 0

Simple yet beautiful, 25 0 was bought at auction by a Ferrari trader for his £10million Ferrari 250 SWB that was previously owned by rock and blues guitarist Eric Clapton. The price tag was a staggering £518,000, which remains the most expensive registration plate ever sold by the DVLA to this day. Would you pay over half a million for a personalised number plate? Don’t worry, you really don’t need to, as we have a huge selection of far more reasonably priced options available.

Search for a custom number plate

Don’t let the above prices put you off, as we sell a huge range of private number plates that don’t require a millionaire’s bank account. Whether it’s for yourself or a loved one, make sure to explore our impressive selection of personalised registrations using our number plate search.