Someone Is Willing To Pay $6.7 Million For This Australian License Plate

The auction doesn't end until January 27, so the plate could sell for even more.

Australian license plate

Chris Bruce

By: Chris Bruce

Dec 14, 2023 at 12:19pm ET

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In some countries, it's possible to transfer license plates between people, and particularly interesting ones can be worth millions of dollars. For example, the Lloyds auction house is offering the "1" plate from the state of New South Wales, Australia. The current price is the equivalent of $6.7 million (10,010,000 Australian dollars), and the bidding doesn't end until January 27 at 10:00 AM local time, meaning it could go for even more money.

The "1" license plate from New South Wales has never been available at auction before. The plate was first issued to the first police commissioner before Sir Frederick Stewart, the founding chairman of Australian National Airways, acquired it in the Thirties. After his passing, his wife took over ownership. She died in 2000, and now, the plate is up for grabs.

From 1910 to 1937, each Australian state issued license plates numerically. They started with 1 and ran through 274-000. There were separate plates for passenger cars, motorcycles, and commercial vehicles. Collectors in the country search for these early plates and are willing to pay a lot for them.

The New South Wales "1" plate is sure to set a new record for an Australian license plate. The "4" plate from that state sold for the equivalent of $1.6 million (2.45 million Australian dollars at the time) in 2017, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

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The New South Wales 1 motorcycle plate sold for an undisclosed price in 2018. Estimates suggested it went for between $335,000 and $669,000 (500,000 to 1 million Australian dollars).

Elsewhere in the world, there have been even more expensive license plate sales. "AA8" went for $9.5 million in Dubai, and the "P7" one there sold for $15 million. The European plate "F1," considered the most valuable plate in the world, was listed for sale in 2018 for just over £12 million (around $15.3 million). According to regtransfers.co.uk it has yet to be sold, with the asking price now sitting at £15 million (over $19 million).

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