Simple car item worth millions
A simple black-and-white number plate – dating back to the 1910s – is expected to fetch an eye-watering price when it goes under the hammer.
Auctioneers are anticipating astronomical bids for the heritage number plate as car enthusiasts flock to add the item to their collections.
National auctions manager at Shannons Auctions Christophe Boribon said he was expecting offers of up to $1.8m for the plate – which bears the number ‘52’.
The number plate, dating back to the 1910s, is set to go to auction later this month.
It was last re-auctioned back in 1984 at an RTA Auction, prior to which it remained in circulation.
“The plate has been in the same ownership since 1984,” Mr Boribon confirmed to 3AW on Wednesday morning.
“So it’s been tightly held in that ownership for nearly 40 years.”
The number plate is still valid and can be put on most registered vehicles in the state.
Mr Boribon said the most he had ever seen a number plate sell for was $2.2m after the auction house parted with a ‘VIC14’ plate last year.
“It wouldn’t surprise me (if the state’s the ‘1’ number plate was worth) anywhere between $7m to $10m in today’s market,” he said.
“It’s fair to say the people buying these plates don’t need to mortgage anything … they’ve got the money in the back pocket for this kind of thing.
“I think there’s a lot of genuine collectors out there that have been in the number plate game for a number of years … and there are number combinations that sometimes mean something to people in certain cultures and others basically just want to get the lowest number possible.”
