MAORI Personalised Reg Plate Up For Sale At Regplates

The personalised number plate MAORI is for sale with a starting price of $49,000.

The plates have a touch of historical significance, having originally been owned by multi-millionaire property developer David Blackmore.

Blackmore had purchased the plates when personalised plates were first released in 1987.

It was later transferred to Kim Dotcom in 2010 as part of a transaction over a $1.5 million loan.

Mr Dotcom, who also received the plates GUILTY, MAFIA, POLICE, STONED, GOOD and EVIL, sold the MAORI plate to Bruce Haliday in early 2011 through Trade Me.

The auction is dubbed a "rare opportunity to buy a unique plate".

"The asking price for the plates reflects its uniqueness, its history and its relevance to this country & its people," it reads.

Haliday, an artist and online knick-knack trader, had first listed the plate late in 2011, when the reserve price stood at a whopping $99,000.

The asking price for the plates had been slashed for the current auction with no reserve price set and a starting bid of $49,000.

Loyal Gloucestershire motorists with a penchant for personalised number plates could get their hands on the ultimate prize – if they have hundreds of thousands of pounds to spare.

Because the number plate GL1 is up for sale.

But you’ll have to have very deep pockets and it will set you back more than a quarter of a million pounds at a huge £262,500 (£315,096 including VAT and an £80 DVLA transfer fee).

And that actually reflects a saving as it was on the market for £350,000, without VAT.

There are also other Gloucestershire themed plates up for sale, but again, at a price

If you were born in 1980, for example, you could have 1980 GL for £6,746.

If you live in Up Hatherley, Cheltenham, and are called Gavin you could have GL51 GAV for £1,677.

And if you live in Cheltenham with a GL53 postcode and are a big fan of the Joint Core Strategy, you could have GL53 JCS for a bargain £450.

If you work at GCHQ, you could get 123 SPY for £10,545 – but it would be a very bad idea.

magine cruising down State Highway 1 and slamming on the brakes as one of your children asks "Mummy, what does OR6ASM mean?" Well, luckily you won't have to.

OR6ASM, FK8R and 4UHOES were among some personalised number plate applications that were rejected by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) in 2017.

But do New Zealanders require such protection?

For some attendees at Auckland Anniversary Weekend's annual three-day Rodders Beach Festival in Orewa, it all seemed a bit unnecessary.

Natalie Millerchen said she wasn't offended by the 'OR6ASM' plate.

"I guess that works for an old car, if it's fast."

'DUMBRS' was also rejected by the NZTA for being disrespectful or profane.

"Disrespectful? Nah," Millerchen said.

"If they're calling themselves dumb a....s, that's all right."

Emblazoned across the boot of Ian Neary's 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner is a scantily woman with the word 'Orgazm' beneath.

ORGAZM features on the number plate too and on detail inside the car.

ORGAZM isn't the legal plate, but a "fun plate", Neary said.

He didn't apply for the word as it was never going to pass, but it had been on his car for the 15 years he had owned it.

"I've been stopped many a time by officers, and the question of the plate has never been raised, so I am quite happy."

Neary said most of the words rejected by NZTA were confusing and a couple were derogatory.

He said he didn't like any, as he preferred a plate that could be easily read.

General plate combinations of certain acronyms such as KKK, KUM and KGB were also rejected by the NZTA.

Plates were held back if they were offensive, derogatory, obscene or profane.

They were also held back if they promoted violence, discrimination or bias against race, age, religious or ethical belief, ancestry, place of origin, disability, sexual origin and family or marital status.

Previous years have seen FUC, FUK and FUQ skipped, but when FTP, also an anti-police slogan, came around, it was allowed.

A police spokeswoman refused to comment on whether the NZTA had discussed whether it was appropriate to release the letter combination.

Rejected Personalised Number Plates 2017:

4UHOES - Derogatory

OR6ASM - Inappropriate

XXXXXK- Confusing

CROWN - For Government use only

FUBUFU - Inappropriate

DUMBRS - Disrespecful/Profane

4GASM - Inappropriate

FK8R - Inappropriate

I1IIIM - Confusing

So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:

25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.

These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.

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