Number Plates News

Three Top Sales in Abu Dhabi Plate Auction

13 October 2009

A sum equivalent to an eye-watering £391,839 has changed hands in Dubai for the number plate I 44.

Some 400 bidders attended the 64th government sponsored sale at the Al Mina Hall, Jumeirah Beach Residence, where the total turnover exceeded £2.61m.

All in all, 91 numbers went under the hammer in the five alpha categories, 'I', 'E', 'F', 'H' and 'G'. Apart from the headliner, many other registrations also commanded staggering sums of money. E 17 came in a close second at £357,766 followed by the number G 1111 at £187,401.

The prices quoted here to illustrate the sales are, of course, simple conversions of the hammer price at the current exchange rate for the local United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) and there may well be additional costs in the form of auctioneers fees and taxes.

Impressive as these latest results are, the price paid for I 44 makes only a small dent, at number 27, in the roll of the all time best-sellers, still headed by the £7.25m price tag placed on the number '1' at an earlier Abu Dhabi auction in February 2008.

Such sums of money must, of course, be viewed from the perspective of the opulence associated with the Arab economy. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that the personal number plate continues to hold a unique, cross-cultural, appeal.