Personalised license plates or custom number plates have been quite popular for some time now. A real fortune must be set aside for this pleasure, and many use it as proof that they are wealthy and want to attract attention. The owner of the vehicle can express his desire for certain numeric and letter marks.

The procedure for issuing personalized license plates is precisely the same as for ordinary plates. A request is made for the registration of the vehicle, with the vehicle owner pointing out that he wants to have specific alphabetic or numeric labels of his choice on the license plate.

The competent police department or station concludes whether the owner's choice is possibly immoral, offends public order, and then they decide if such a combination can be allowed.

The numbers and the letters of the license plates seem not to matter to some, but such plates can make the vehicle more attractive and unique.

Now we are going to focus on the most popular license plates among drivers, especially those who are more superstitious or believers in esoteric subjects, numerology, etc. Also, if your car has an unusual license plate and you want to resell it, you may have a problem with that, you'll see.

Good and bad letters for car number plates

For example, cars with the last batch of letter series are worth less than the first batch of the next, that is, an xxxxGZZ, and will be priced worse than an xxxxHBB, even if it takes days.

The same goes for the vehicles registered on December 30, which are paid less than those of the following January 2.

Yes, it might be nonsense, and it is unfair, but, in the mind of the future owner, a "G" is a simple"G," while an "H" is much more "modern."

Do you know about the psychological prices of 9.95 and others? Well, it is the same principle.

The World's Most Expensive Custom License Plates

You are probably thinking that the world is going to hell, and the truth is that nobody will blame you for it. Everything is changing rapidly and, with the rise of social media, we live in an increasingly digital society that encourages us to show the world how unique and special we are. So it has become trendy to spend large amounts of money on a vehicle.

The United Kingdom

One of the biggest markets for personalized number plates is the United Kingdom. New number plates can make any car look unique. The UK number plate company CarReg has been supplying number plates for over 30 years and has over 50 million available. CarReg have been buying and selling number plates for over 30 years. To find out more about it, visit this site. DVLA, the UK Government's Vehicle and Driver Licensing Agency, began issuing personalized number plates in 1989, selling the 'A1' registration for £ 160,000 (€ 177,315 exchange) at a Christie's auction on the first day. Some of the most expensive car registrations there are the following: 25 O, 1 D, 51 NGH, 1 RH, K1 NGS, and others.

Initially, the business had a hard time starting up, with a total of 658 records sold the first year, but in 1990 things changed radically, increasing that number to unbelievable 26,000 copies. However, that's nothing compared to the 5.9 million custom number plates that have been sold in the past 30 years.

The benefits? About two million pounds sterling or 2.22 million euros in exchange for the state coffers. In the fiscal year 2018-2019, a record of personalized license plates was reached, with 404,000 units sold. Usually, the average price online is around 807 pounds (972 euros in exchange), while in live auctions, they reach 3,225 pounds on average (3,574 euros).

The UAE thing is a whole other level

Their business of personalized number plates is even bigger than in the United Kingdom, with the Emirates Highway and Transport Authority (RTA) being in charge of conducting the auctions. Those are quite spectacular auctions. A few years ago, a man spent $9 million on a license plate "5."

Another example is the figure paid in 2008 by Saeed Abdul Ghafour Khouri, a 25-year-old who made world news when he paid a world record of 52.2 million dirhams (1.29 million euros in exchange) for the registration plate "1". The same goes for the license plate of the collector Khouri, with plates that cost more than most vehicles.

The solid Australian heritage

Australia is another of the big markets for personalized number plates. It is understandable since we are talking about the places with the highest rate of vehicles per capita. Currently, one, two, and three-digit number plates first issued after 1910 are highly-priced, but this business does not attract Australian Capital Gains Tax. Anyway, custom number plates like "DOWN UNDER" are still quite popular.

The current record regarding the matter is 2,572,500 Australian dollars (15.8 million euros in exchange), set by Shannon's Auctions in August 2017. It was the price to be paid by Chinese-Australian businessman Peter Tseng - a well-known collector of number plates - to obtain registration number '4' in New South Wales. Tseng also owns the "1" license plate in Hong Kong and the "ONE" plate in New South Wales.

With numbers, things are more discreet.

As always, the more "unique" license plates are those like 0000 or 0006 and similar.

Not long ago, we saw a Ferrari Testarossa for sale with an M-0000-ON plate. The owner knew the value of the plate and noted it in his ad. The peculiar thing is that such a car should have been moon white, and it was orange.

Then there are the capsicums. They always like them a lot. They have the same charm as the "singular" ones.

There are also "cursed" plates, but, of course, that depends on the person. Just as a legionary of Christ flees from 0666, some citizens like to drive their cars with that particular number. And, to contradict the superstitious, we have been told that the "13" is sold like any other number.

"Four" has negative connotations in Chinese culture, unlike eight. 7 and 9 are very dear to Spaniards, while others seem to have a preference for 1 and 6, according to an unscientific study done at the bar with some companions.