Bidding for ‘NSW 1’ number plate passes $10 million
Rare single-digit heritage number plate dates back to first NSW police commissioner in 1910A New South Wales number plate is hotly tipped to line up alongside the world’s most valuable after bids for ‘NSW 1’ rocketed to more than $10 million, just 72 hours after the rare plate was listed online.
According to Lloyds Auctions, the rare ‘NSW 1’ number plate has never been offered via a public auction, with the heritage plate last changing hands more than 110 years ago.
Claimed to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to snap up “the most desirable and prestigious number plate in Australia”, the bidding could go higher than the current $10,010,000, with 40 days still left to run.
At the current rate of bidding, it’s feasible the heritage plate could overtake the staggering 55 million dirhams ($A22.5m) that was paid for ‘P7’ in Dubai earlier this year.
If so, ‘NSW 1’ would become the world’s most valuable number plate.
Heritage plates have attracted huge money in recent years.
Back in 2017, the single-digit ‘NSW 4’ sold at auction for an unprecedented $2.45 million while a Victorian buyer parted with $1.1 million in 2020 for ‘26’.
Just last year the ‘994’ Victorian plate sold for $391,000, while another buyer splashed out a hefty $330,000 for ‘621’.
‘NSW 1’, meanwhile, was originally issued to the state’s first police commissioner before it was acquired in the 1930s by successful railway man and bus company owner, Sir Frederick Stewart, who went on to become the founding chairman of Australian National Airways.
The first of the state’s all-numeric plates that were introduced in 1910 and ran from 1 to 274-000, ‘NSW 1’ also originally had a black character on a white background, which was employed on plates produced from 1910-24. The colour scheme was reversed in 1924.
“This is the first time ‘NSW 1’ is being offered via public auction in more than 110 years and will probably be the last,” said Lloyds Auctions CEO Lee Hamas said.
“It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure the most desirable and prestigious number plate in Australia.”
Related: Number plate sells for $22.5 million
Related: Number plate sells for $1.1 million
Related: Why do classic number plates sell for so much?
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