Even in the early days, people recognised the significance and enjoyment brought by owning a prestigious or personalised number plate and often kept them within the family for many years. Their significance is often highly personalised to their owners. Some like to have a registration that originated in their local area, some are attracted to owning their own initials and others enjoy the fun of a word based registration mark.

As popularity grows, the prices reached for the most expensive plates are always increasing. As of 2008, the record price for a number plate is £397,500 paid at auction in September by an anonymous buyer for the plate S 1. This was originally owned by Sir John H A MacDonald, the Lord Kingsburgh and was Edinburgh's first ever number plate. Car design entrepreneur Afzal Kahn paid £375,000 on 25 January 2008 for F 1 previously owned and sold by Essex County Council and affixed originally in 1904 to the Panhard et Levassor of the then County Surveyor. £330,000 was spent on M 1, sold at auction in Goodwood on 7 June 2006.

Reg Plate Auction – Day 3 News – £63,500 for 1 OOO

The third day of the DVLA cherished number plate auction is underway with a bang!

the registration plate 1 OOO has been sold to a telephone bidder for the sum of £63,500 hammer price!

2010 Car Number Plates

We’re now just over a month away from the introduction of the 2010 number plate on all new cars hitting the road after the beginning of March.

While the excitement surrounding the introduction of new number plates may go over some people’s heads, during the past few years a real demand has grown for personalised plates, with some selling for an absolute fortune at auction.

Music legend Elton John’s former number plate ELT 70N recently went up for auction for just under £1,000, but that’s nothing compared to the £113,815 one crazy person (in the nicest sense) shelled out on a 1 HRH number plate auctioned by the DVLA at the beginning of 2009. And even that has some way to go to surpass £254,000 paid to take ownership of the 51 NGH plate.

Number Plates as an alternative investment

Investing in car registration plates may seem like an unorthodox way of making money and a considerable statement in the process. Nevertheless, hundreds of investors and drivers now choose to purchase car registration plates with significant future returns available. The most obvious reason for purchasing car registration plates is to personalise your vehicle, to make you stand out from the crowd.

Even a mere decade ago, drivers with personalised registration plates were seen as wealthy and successful. In the present day, car registration plates are now more accessible and economical for the everyday working man to purchase. Drivers looking for a potential investment must keep in mind that the registration plate they purchase must be easy to sell on in the future.