Most expensive private number plates sold by the DVLA in 2023 revealed

Whether you’re a motorist who enjoys personalisation or an investor with an eye on a future return, private plates have become hot property in recent years.

And the prices some people pay for one they really want is staggering.

The world’s most expensive private plate recently sold to an anonymous bidder in Dubai for £13 million. The plate? A lone ‘7’.

But what about back in Britain? We exclusively reveal the top 10 most expensive registrations sold by the DVLA.

Most expensive private plates of 2023: We reveal which personalised registration plates were sold by the DVLA for the highest amounts last year – and compare them to the all-time priciest

Top 10 priciest registrations sold by DVLA in 2023

2023 was the end of an era in the private plate world with the last in-person DVLA auction taking place in October. 

Personalised registration auctions will now be exclusively online, and the DVLA holds six sales a year.

Taking the 2023 number one spot at a DVLA auction was ‘H1 NDU’, which sold for £112,010 (excluding fees and taxes). 

It’s high sale price requires little explanation and the six-figure price is perhaps less unsurprising than some others that make-up the most expensive of last year.

The top 10 of was dominated by the trend for private plates with ‘O’, with half of the most expensive private registrations following this format. 

This is becoming auction standard in the current private plate market.

Two ‘DEO’ plates featured in the most expensive list: ‘1 DEO’ sold for £106,090 and ‘DEO 1S’ fetched £80,010. 

Registrations featuring letters first and the number 1 in the sequence typically achieve the highest prices, based on the DVLA’s historical records.

The ‘DEO’ inspired big hitters might be appealing because of the ‘God’ meaning behind them, but there’s no definite answer.

It’s the guessing game involved that makes private plates such as an interesting investment to many. 

The greats of all time: the top 10 most expensive personalised DVLA plates sold at auction

The most expensive private plates ever sold by DVLA

2023 wasn’t a particularly high performing year for DVLA registrations compared to the last five years. 

Jon Kirkbright, sales director at number plate supplier Platehunter puts this down to the lower quality stock.

He told This is Money: ‘The best plates were sold when the DVLA started its auctions back in the day. 

‘Now you’re looking at a initial plate but you have three numbers after it because one to 99 have already been released.’

The top 10 from the last five years ranged from £308,253 for ‘DEV 1L’ down to £84,000 for ‘3 XRP’. 

‘DEV 1L’ was also the third most expensive of all time, with collectors scrambling over the plate from Cruella De Vil’s iconic car.

Five of the 10 were all above £112,000, but only one of these was sold in 2023: ‘H1 NDU’ that was the most expensive from last year.

Smokin’: The DEV 1L plate from Cruella De Vil’s iconic car was sold in 2021 by the DVLA for £308,253

Comparatively, the top 10 of all time were all above £150,000 (excluding fees and taxes) and sold as far back as 1989 – the year the agency first put on auctions for private plates.

The most expensive DVLA registration ever sold was ’25 O’ which reached £400,000 (excluding fees and taxes) on 27 November 27 2014.

It was a good furlong ahead of second place’s ‘1 D’ which came in at £285,000. No prizes for guessing which boy band that bidder was a fan of.

The first online auction of 2024 has already taken place, with ‘L1 BYA’ the standout lot going for £80,000 (just shy of £103,000 inclusive of auction fees and VAT).

CarReg, a UK business that specialises in the purchase and sale of private plates, told us: ‘L1 BYA possibly could end up on a vehicle used by diplomats at the Embassy of Libya London as similar numbers have done so in the past.’ 

Where the private plate market stands

As of 2023, businesses operating in the sector valued the British personalised number plate industry to be worth over £2billion.

Jon Kirkbright, 45, is the founder of Plate Hunter

A total of 17,823 registrations were sold in last year’s DVLA auctions and buyers spent almost £49m (including fees and taxes).

Platehunter saw a 25 per cent increase in turnover by the first 17 days of January on last year, with valuation requests per day up 100 on last year already.

Kirkbright is expecting this year to be the biggest yet: ‘The second-hand plate market keeps going from strength to strength and 2024 will be no different.

‘People are seeing worse plates sold by the DVLA go for the same price they paid for a better one at an auction years ago, and so are demanding two or three times the price for their plates now on the second hand market’. 

Five reasons people spend big on private plates

Names, initials and words

Number plates that spell out – or almost spell out – names, initials and words are the most common reason for why people splash out on private registrations. 

People either wish to express their individuality and personality, or an investor knows that certain words will continue to rise in value.

The Prince and Princess of Wales drove away from their wedding with ‘JU5T WED’ on the rear number plate of King Charles III’s Aston Martin Volante.

Businessman Afzal Khan reportedly turned down £10 million for his ‘F1’ plate he bought for £440k in 2008.

Investment

Investors go where the returns are good, and the performance of private number plates is pulling investors away from traditional investments. 

With higher returns than wine, watches, jewellery and classic cars and art, it’s not surprising that personalised plates are creating bidding wars.

One specialist said a plate can double in value in 12 months.

Buyers turn over plates very quickly, and unlike investments like cars or art there’s no storage costs. You can even drive your car with your plate on without it losing any value!

Covering up a car’s age

While you can’t customise and display a plate that makes your car look newer than it is, you can put private plate on that conceals the age of your car. 

You don’t have to drive around with a age-identifiable DVLA plate.

Power symbols

There’s inner confidence and then there’s needing to prove it. 

Drivers with private plates resembling status such as success, money, or influence such as ‘BO55’ use short words or acronyms to project the image of themselves they want out there.

Sentimentality

Some people have a locket with a photo in, others a tattoo. But for some drivers, a  private plate is the best means to remember and commemorate special dates, events or references to loved ones.

And because these evoke personal memories, many believe it is worth paying a lot of money for the personalised number plate combinations they really want.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk