Number Plates News

Three-Figure Plates Makes Five-Figure Sum in Latest Australian Auction

26 June 2009

Australian number plate aficionados spent more than £1.72m on 49 New South Wales number plates at a recent auction in Sydney.

The sale was conducted by Shannons, a leading motor insurance agency, in conjunction with the New South Wales Road Traffic Authority (RTA).

The largest outlay was the £56,000 paid for the number '215' whilst other numeric-only examples '214' and '229' chalked-up returns of £54,000 and £46,000 respectively.

In an innovative variation to the usual procedure at such events, the RTA offered a special 'Make Your Own Plate' option, whereby punters could select other previously unissued numeral-only registrations for around £30,000.

But the item that caught most people's attention was the so-called 'Pink Plate' with the number '922'. 25% of the sale price of this particular lot had been promised to the McGrath Foundation for breast cancer nurses.

Local lawyer, Stephen Aroney, was the successful bidder who won the plate for £36,000. Stephen says he will keep the plate in his family and eventually bequeath it to his daughter, now just 3 years old.

"I went to the auction with my brother-in-law who is a passionate collector intending to buy a three digit plate as an investment," said Stephen, "but missed out of several I bid for.

"Then the Pink Plate came up; I made a couple of bids; and then the hammer fell - I was thrilled to get it. I'm delighted that some of the proceeds from this plate are going to the McGrath Foundation."

A spokesman for the organisers commented, "It's great to see plate values bounce back and it would seem that we are now truly shedding the recession blues."

[Note: Prices are shown at the current exchange rates for Australian dollars and do not any include taxes and fees due.]

Read our ealier report on Australian plate auctions