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From $14m ‘1’ To $10m ‘AA9’ Plate, Here Are 10 Most Expensive Number Plates In The World And Their Owners
Luxury of numbers : From $14 million ‘1’ to $10 million ‘AA9’ plate, here are the most expensive number plates in the world and their owners.
Last year, oil rich Dubai in United Arab Emirates maintained its status as the home to world’s most expensive car number plates after a ‘AA9’ plate was sold for a cool $10 million (Dh38 million).
But this amount still trails earth-shattering prices which some collectors paid to own valuable and rare number plates.
So who owns the most expensive number plates in the world? Let’s take a look at the most expensive number plates in the world.
1) Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri’s $14m ‘1’
The ‘1’ is the most expensive number plate in the world. The registration plate was sold to Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for Dh52 million ($14 million) in 2008.
Khouri, who is the CEO of Abdul Khaleq Al Khouri & Bros Co and CEO of Milipol International Est. bought it from a number plate auction organised by Emirates Auction Company.
2) $10 million Dubai Number Plate ‘AA9’
During a rare Most Noble Numbers charity event in May, 2021, an unnamed buyer paid a cool $10 million (Dh38 million) to own a rare Dubai Number Plate ‘AA9’.
To put the price into perspective, you could buy 2 brand new Bugatti Chiron Hypercar plus 8 new ultra-luxury Rolls-Royce Phantom sedans.
During the event, a total of $13.6 million (Dh50 million) were raised for four plate numbers. Three other number plates, U31, T38, and E51, raised a total of $3.6 million.
3) Afzal Kahn’s $9.5 million ‘F1’ plate
A “F1” licensed to a 2013 Bugatti Veyron SuperSport is believed to be the world’s most sought-after registration plate.
The number is owned by the founder of luxury car tuner, Kahn Design, Afzal Kahn, and was on sale at one time for ₦7.1billion (£15million).
Kahn purchased in 2008 for £375,000 and rejected a ₦2.9 billion (£6 million) bid for the plate in 2014.
4) Balwinder Sahni’s $9 million ‘D5’
Back in 2016, Indian businessman Balwinder Sahhni forked out 33 Million AED ($9million) to own a ‘D5’ plate, which he said will be going on his Rolls Royce.
Shai said that he wanted the number plate because his lucky number is nine. He explained that his lucky number, 9, is gotten when when the ‘D’ – the fourth letter in the alphabet – is added to the ‘5’.
5) Abdullah Al Mahri’s $8.4 million ‘1’
In 2016, Abdullah Al Mahri bought the ‘1’ plate at an auction in Abu Dhabi for 31 million AED, which is around £6.2 million.
Mahri’s number ‘1’ plate took the number one spot at the auction, but other valuable and rarest number plates sold for millions of dirhams include ‘7’, ‘50’, ‘11’, ‘22’, and ‘66’.
6) “5” number plate for Dh25.2 million ($6.86 million)
Before the earth-shattering price of $14 million was paid to own ‘1’, the ultimate car registration number in Dubai in 2008, the “5” plate sold by Emirates auctions in May 2007 was the most expensive.
The “5” number plate was bought by UAE businessman for Dh25.2 million ($6.86 million) – and back then, it was a new world record price for a registration number.
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See Also : $2 Million License Plate : Mercedes-AMG C43 Spotted Rocking Plate Worth Four Rolls-Royce Phantoms
7) Peter Bartels’ $2.3 million ‘1’
Back in February 2021, a $200k Mercedes-AMG C43 was spotted in Melbourne, Australia, rocking a $2 million ‘1’ license plate worth the price of four Rolls-Royce Phantom sedans.
Over the years, it has been spotted on a Ferrari, a Rolls-Royce, a Porsche 911 Turbo, a 911 Carrera, an E55 AMG and a E63 AMG.
The plate is owned by an Australian businessman Peter Bartels, is reportedly the most expensive in circulation in the Australian state of Victoria.
8) Lucky 28 for $2.2 million
In 2016, a ‘28’ personalised number plate was sold for 18.1 million Hong Kong dollars which is about $2.2 million.
The word for 28 sounds just like a phrase meaning “easy money” in Cantonese.
9) Peter Tseng’s $1.8 million ‘NSW 4’
In 2017, Chinese-Australian billionaire, Peter Tseng bought the original NSW licence plate No. 4 (‘NSW 4’) for $2.45 million Australian dollars. The New South Wales plate was first registered in 1910.
Peter Tseng, a wine collector and sex toy magnate, is a renowned number plate collector. He also owns the Hong Kong-registered No. 1 number plate and a personalised licence plate “ONE” registered to his 1969 Mercedes in Sydney.
10) John Collins’ £500,000 ’25 O’
The ‘25 O’ number is the most expensive registration plate in UK and it was purchased by John Collins for over £518,000 in 2014.
Then, Collins, a classic car dealer, said he would put his newly purchased ‘25 O’ number plate on his 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB. The Ferrari 250 Series are one of the world’s most expensive classic cars released in the 1950s and 1960s.
