In a world turned upside down, where registration plates sell for way more than the cars that originally carried them, an iconic NSW-issue heritage plate has just smashed the million-dollar barrier in an online sale.
The plate in question was NSW ‘69’ (careful… we can hear you sniggering through the screen) which had been offered through online auction site Collecting Cars and was expected reach $1 million during a no-reserve sale.
That mark was achieved hours before the auction ended, sitting evenly at the seven-digit mark when our monthly auction wrap was published at lunchtime yesterday.
However, such was the fervour amongst bidders to own these evocative plates that during the auction’s final 15 minutes, the bid price climbed by over $200,000.
At 5:50pm on October 28, when the hammer finally dropped, NSW ‘69’ had reached a value of $1,250,000 – although yet more expense was still to come for the winning bidder.
Under the terms of the auction, an 11 percent Buyer’s Premium (GST inclusive) was payable, pushing the plate’s final cost to a massive $1,387,500 and constituting from any angle you might view it, a massive investment in two slivers of embossed metal.
