Number plates are big business. And unsurprisingly the most sought after registrations are often the most expensive number plates on the market.
In the UK, these are always cherished plates, generally with a small amount of characters as possible. A 1 is the classic example of what is probably the best number plate you can buy, and it would also be the most expensive number plate you can buy, being worth in excess of 10 million pounds if it were up to sale today.
So, while we’ve all got some time on our hands, let’s take a look at the most expensive number plates in the world and the very rich people who bought them. Oh, and these are all the prices BEFORE the DVLA and auctioneer fees were added, so on the day the people buying them actually spent more than listed below. Now that’s expensive.
Let’s start somewhere close to home, as in, our home, The UK. Here’s the top 10 most expensive number plates ever purchased in the UK.
The Top Ten Most Expensive Number Plates in The UK
- 25 O
Price: £400,000
Date: November 2014
This very expensive number plate was purchased by a Mr John Collins, a classic car dealer who also purchased 250 L at the same DVLA auction back in 2014. After fees he spent a cool £650,000 at that one auction. Now that’s an expensive day out!
- 1 D
Price: £285,000
Date: March 2009
Business Tycoon Nabil Bishara won the number plate at a DVLA auction, coming out on top in an incredible bidding war to pop the very expensive number plate on his wife’s Bentley. Apparently, a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates just wouldn’t suffice.
- 51 NGH
Price: £201,000
Date: April 2006
Unsurprisingly purchased by a Mr Singh, 51 NGH broke records when it was auctioned off in 2006, becoming the most expensive plate ever to be sold at a DVLA auction. Singh is an incredibly popular surname in the Sikh community, so it kinda makes sense why someone would drop over a quarter of a million pounds on a very expensive number plate. Kind of.
- 1 RH
Price: £196,000
Date: November 2008
This one is a bit mysterious for an expensive number plate, as there is no public knowledge about who actually purchased it. Which is quite strange as when somebody spends a couple of hundred grand on a number plate, it tends to hit the news. It is however back up for sale with a price tag ranging between £300,000 and £400,000, depending on where you look.
- K1 NGS
Price: £185,000
Date: December 1993
Being a K suffix plate, K1 NGS was released in 1992, and quickly put up for sale in 1993. Expensive number plate legend has it that it was purchased by an Arab Sultan back in the 90s, and it remains on a presumably royal vehicle today.
- KR15 HNA
Price: £180,000
Date: May 2015
Krishna is a Hindy deity, and what better way to show your love for a god than with a personalised number plate? Well that’s what the anonymous London-based Indian heritage businesswoman thought when she shelled out over £200,000 after fees on a very expensive number plate indeed. This one unsurprisingly broke records back in 2015 and was purchased at a DVLA auction live in the flesh by the mysterious woman.
- 1 O
Price: £170,000
Date: January 2009
Tom Earle purchased 1 O at a DVLA auction back in 2009, shelling out over £200,000 for the pleasure. At the time of purchase, it was the third most expensive number plate the UK has ever produced, but as values increase so much it is down to a lowly 7th. It is unknown as to why Tom Earle was able to not only afford this plate but why he wanted it, as judging by the photo of him holding his beloved plate, he looks about 18 years old.
- 1 A
Price: £160,000
Date: December 1989
Now, bear with us on this, but 1 A being sold for £160,000 is actually incredibly cheap, considering it is the exact mirror of the legendary A 1, said to be worth at least £10 million in today’s market. While it was purchased in 1989, this is still an incredibly small amount for what would be one of the world’s most expensive plates if it were up for sale. Which unfortunately, it isn’t.
- 1 OO
Price: £156,000
Date: April 2006
Either a massive toilet fan or a fan of the number 100, the buyer of 1 OO is unknown. What is known, however, is that it was sold at a DVLA auction in April 2006. And that’s about all we know about this one!
- 2 O
Price: £115,000
Date: March 2009
And finally, 2 O, again we know little about the purchaser of this plate as they have remained anonymous. We do know that in March 2009 it went for £115,000 at a DVLA auction and has remained out of circulation since then.
TL;DR
These are all incredibly expensive, but the most expensive number plates in the world eclipse these totals by some way, and are maybe unsurprisingly found in the magical, money-filled land of the middle east, particularly the UAE.
But you may be asking, what is the 10 most expensive number plate in the whole world? For this we need to take a look outside of the UK. Remember that some of the amounts are lower, so we’ve included the date as the exchange rate and value has fluctuated a lot for AED over the past 20 years.
The Most Expensive Number Plates In The World
- D 5
Price: 33 Million AED, equivalent to £7,324,207
Date: 08/10/2018
Location: Dubai, UAE
- 1
Price: 52.2 Million AED, equivalent to £7,250,000
Date: 17/02/2018
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
- 0 9
Price: 25 Million AED, equivalent to £4,363,000
Date: 07/07/2015 Location: Dubai, UAE
- 5
Price: 25.2 Million AED, equivalent to £3,500,000
Date: 01//02/2007
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
- 7
Price: 16.8 Million AED, equivalent to £3,000,000
Date: 20/02/2010
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
- 9
Price: 15.4 Million AED, equivalent to £2,153,846
Date: 10/05/2008
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
- 2
Price: 10 Million AED, equivalent to £2,061,850
Date: 18/11/2017
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
- 8. 28
Price: 18.1 Million KHD, equivalent to £1,616,000
Date: 02/02/2016
Location: Hong Kong
- 18 Price: 16.5 Million HKD, equivalent to £1,513,372
Date: 23/02/2008
Location: Hong Kong
- NSW 4
Price: 2.4 Million AUD, equivalent to £1,500,000
Date: 28/08/2017
Location: New South Wales, Australia
So, there you have it, the most expensive number plates in the world. You can check out our dateless registrations here if you want to bag yourself an amazing number plate. If you don’t fancy breaking the bank with a very expensive number plate, you can also get yourself a Northern Irish plate here, these also have no age signifier and can be very similar to dateless plates, but for a fraction of the cost.
Happy number plate shopping, and don’t forget to wash your hands!
Source List:
https://www.supanet.com/k1-ngs-the-top-10-most-expensive-number-plates-a15659.html
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/1d-number-plate-fetches-352k-384582
https://gulfbusiness.com/abu-dhabi-number-1-car-plate-sells-for-dhs31m/
