The Most Expensive Number Plates Around The World

A rare two-digit numberplate has fetched a record-breaking $745,000 at auction in Sydney overnight.
The historic black and white New South Wales plate features the number '29' and smashed the previous record for the most expensive numberplate sold at auction by $56,000.

That record belonged to the NSW plate '2' which sold for $689,000 in 2003. The previous record for a two-digit plate was the Victorian '21' which sold for $530,000 at auction in 2016.

The history of '29' dates back to 1915 when it was registered to Mr MacCormick of Macquarie Street, Sydney. He had the plate on his Minerva.

The numberplate was sold overnight at the Shannons Autumn Classic Auction. The most expensive car sold was $180,000 for a restored 1970 Ford XY Falcon GT.

Last night’s Shannons auction was going as expected as people became proud owners of Skylines, HDT Commodores, and even a Mk1 Jensen Interceptor. All at reasonable prices too.
That was until a little black and white piece of pressed tin came up to the block. Okay, there were two of them.
Lot “AB”, a set of NSW historic numberplates which feature the number 29 on them, sold for an astonishing $745,000.

Joining them in the ‘too much money for a small piece of metal’ category were numbers ‘4002’, ‘9191’, ‘85758’, and ‘74-820’, all selling between $30,000 and $82,000.

While it’s understandable that these plates have long histories – especially ‘29’, which was first recorded at home on a Minerva in 1915 – it’s hard to understand why someone would drop near-Aventador money on one.

The way Shannons put it is that “its new owner has achieved instant membership of a very exclusive, low-digit numberplate club of just 90, whose ‘joining’ fee has risen steadily and reliably over the years.”

It’s probably going to keep rising, too. We imagine that plate will be kept in a safe rather than screwed onto a car.

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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