Heritage Aussie number plate to fetch over a million
A South Australian number plate is expected to sell at auction for over a million dollars.
The sought-after No. 8 Plate was first issued in 1906 to Arthur Ernest Ayers, the son of South Australian businessman and politician Sir Henry Ayers, the original owner of the Ayers House in Adelaide.
The number plate became available for the first time in February this year, with the online auction going live late last month.
Almost 1,700 bids have already been made, with the leading bid as of Monday morning at around $1.32 million with the auction closing at 7pm (local time).
“It’s very rare and very special,” Historic Plates auctioneer, Stewart Kay, said.
The last time the SA Government issued a single digit number plate was in 1985, when plate No. 7 was sold.
“These plates are all about the paperwork, so having a set of number plates hanging in grandad’s shed might not necessary confer ownership.”
He added that the plate would likely be sold to a prominent Adelaide businessman for around $1.3 to $1.5 million.
This is a record price for a South Australian number plate, with the previous highest being for a SA No. 1 Plate commemorating the Adelaide Grand Prix, which fetched $593,000 in 2020.
Kay added that the older the number plate and lower the number, the higher the return expected at auction.
“Number plates are a very historic connection back to 120 years ago when they were first issued,” Kay said.
“They’re sort of triple threat, they look fantastic on a car, they have a great return in terms of investment and they have a certain level of prestige to them.”
Anyone can purchase the rights to a number plate, however the plates can only be affixed to a vehicle that is registered to the state it belongs in.
In New South Wales, a No. 1 plate surpassed its $10 million estimate and was sold for $12.4 million in January.
Earlier this year, Victoria’s "luckiest" number plate with the number 888-888 sold for an eye-watering $230,000 to an anonymous buyer after it was privately owned for the past 30 years.
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