Like them or loathe them, there’s no denying that numberplates are a popular purchase in the UK - and some of them are more expensive than you think.
For many drivers, they’re a way to present a message to other family, friends, or other drivers. Some use them to present their name, make jokes or relate them to their actual car.
To others, they’re a luxury purchase or a symbol of vanity. Then there’s the section of the driving public who think they’re simply a waste of money.
While they might hold significant sentimental value to the driver, they can also be sold for some serious cash. Custom number plates can be worth anywhere between a few hundred pounds and several hundred thousand pounds.
The most expensive numberplates are usually the ones with a lower number of digits. Plates with a total of just two letters or numbers are usually the most valuable, with some auctioning off for some frankly outrageous figures.
So, then: which are the most expensive number plates ever sold in the UK? We’ve listed them right here, but we’ve not stopped there - we’ve put their values as well as what you could get instead for the same money…
The most expensive number plates sold in the UK
1. 25 O - £518,480
The registration plate ‘25 O’ is the most expensive ever sold in the UK, going under the hammer for a staggering £518,480 in 2014. It’s apt, then, that it was once fitted to one of the most expensive cars ever sold at auction: the Ferrari 250 GTO.
The plate’s £518,480 price tag was, of course, dwarfed by the car’s £30,750,300 final bid. According to the DVLA, the plate now resides on an altogether more modern Ferrari - the LaFerrari hybrid hypercar.
The price of the plate could get you ten Audi TT RSs, but personalised plate vendor Regtransfers reckons it’s now increased in value, to £750,000 (fifteen TT RSs).
2. X 1 - £502,500
Taking a narrow second place is the registration plate X 1. Little is known about the owner of the plate, but based on DVLA records it is currently in use on a blue, hybrid Mercedes purchased in March of 2024. The plate fetched its half-million-pound price in November 2012.
You could enjoy roughly ten Ford Mustangs for the amount paid for the X 1 numberplate, and estimates suggest it has almost doubled its value since being purchased in 2012 to £1,000,000. As satisfying as it would be, we can’t confirm if the plate has ever made its way onto a BMW X1…
3. G 1 - £500,000
G 1 was the country’s most expensive reg plate for a little over a year before X 1 came along, pipping it by a mere £2500. It’s currently registered to a V8 Land Rover Defender, bought in 2024.
We actually know a fair bit about its owner, who won a £148million jackpot in the Euromillions in 2012. They also owned the largest collection of two-digit plates in the UK, with the letter G paired with the numbers 1-9, before starting to cash in in 2021.
The £500,126 price tag is the equivalent of around 28 Ford Fiesta STs, in case you were curious. If the seller sold the plate today, they would – according to estimates – double their money, to £1 million.
4. RR 1 - £472,000
A relatively new entry to this list, RR 1 was purchased in September 2018 for an amount that narrowly misses out on a podium position. Originally issued in 1925, the last time this plate changed hands was back in the 1960s, where its then-new owner paid £5000 for it.
Today the plate resides on a Rolls Royce Phantom, and seems like a worthwhile investment: according to regtransfers, it has gone up in value and is currently worth more than £500,000.
5. F 1 - £440,625
Perhaps the most evocative and desirable reg plate amongst this list, the F 1 plate sold in January 2008 for £440,625. It’s currently registered to Afzal Kahn, of Kahn design fame, on a Bugatti Veyron. Before that, it was on a Volvo S80.
Kahn has expressed that if offered, he would sell the numberplate for over £10 million, but is not officially advertising the numberplate. The price Kahn payed for the plate in 2008 could buy you more than 15 examples of the BMW 3 Series.
6. SH 1 - £415,143
Little is known about this exuberantly priced cominbation of letters and numbers, but its currently fitted to a Bentley Continental GT. It was sold in April 2019 at a DVLA auction, and can be yours should you decide not to opt for two Maserati MC20s.
7. S 1 - £404,063
Arguably one of the most historic Scottish number plates ever printed, S 1 was issued in 1903 as the country's first registration plate. Lord Kingsburgh, one of the first people in Scotland to buy a car, became its owner, and it remained in the family for generations before finally changing hands.
It was bought by an anonymous bidder in 2008, who said it would be used on an old Skoda, although the DVLA doesn't show it as currently registered to any car. Either way, it was a shrewd investment - the plate is currently valued at more than £1,000,000.
8. 1 D - £352,411
Fans of Harry Styles et al will be after this one. The 1 D plate was first purchased in June 2009 for £352,411; in other words, roughly the same price as a Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé. Clearly, it stole the owner’s heart.
It’s currently registered to a Bentley Bentayga; a car with a starting price of less than half that of the plate today. The plate was originally sold at a DVLA auction, but experts put its value today at £500,000. It’s the Little Things.
9. 1 S - £340,000
The 1 S plate was first bought in March 2010, and for a time resided on a car of a similar value to its £340,000 original price tag: a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
The estimated worth of the plate has almost doubled in value since, although according to the DVLA it isn't currently registered on any vehicle. It cost the same as the Lexus LFA when it was new, or 25 examples of the Citroen C3 You.
10. M 1 - £331,500
M 1 is another which found itself on a Bentley; this time on a Flying Spur. The plate was bought in June 2006, making it one of the earliest entries on our list. It’s for this reason that its value has increased so much; it’s now valued at a cool £1million.
Its original £331,500 price could buy three Porsche 911 Carrera T coupés.
11. GB 1- £325,000
This is one which has almost certainly risen in value post-Brexit, and it’s on a rather fitting car: the Rolls-Royce Phantom. The patriotic numberplate was sold to a private buyer in November 2009 for £325,000, although it’s now worth £500,000.
For that, you could buy a Lamborghini Revuelto, and still have over £50,000 left.
So, in summary, the top ten most expensive numberplates ever sold in the UK are:
1. 25 O - £518,480
2. X 1 - £502,500
3. G 1 - £500,000
4. RR 1 - £472,000
5. F 1 - £440,625
6. SH 1 - £415,143
7. S 1 - £404,063
8, 1 D - £352,411
9. 1 S - £340,000
10. M 1 - £331,500
11. GB 1- £325,000
Let us know your thoughts below. Which camp are you in? Do you think personalised number plates are harmless fun or a symbol of frivolous excess?
While our images are a close representation of the models which feature these number plates, they are not the owners' cars.
