Car number plate sells for N$274m

While a few thousand dollar seem like a reasonable stretch for many Namibians, a personalised car number plate recently sold for the equivalent of around N$274 million in Dubai.

The number plate ‘P7’ went under the hammer on Saturday night for a record 55 million Emirati dirhams at the ‘Most Noble Numbers’ auction in Dubai, Ians and Bloomberg report.

Bids started at 15 million dirhams (N$75 million).

The ‘P7’ number plate was auctioned alongside numerous other individual plates and unique phone numbers.

All proceeds, which eventually amounted to almost 100 million dirhams (N$498 million), went to the One Billion Meals charity campaign, which aims to combat global hunger, Ians reports.

The P7 bid broke the previous record auction price for a number plate, which took place in 2008 when an Abu Dhabi businessman paid 52,2 million dirhams (N$260 million) for a number ‘1’ plate.

Single-digit number plates are a huge status symbol in Dubai.

In fact, it is reported that an opulent hotel once denied entry to a wealthy businessman because his licence plate had more than two digits.

But it’s not just the Middle East that has a taste for expensive plates.

According to Bloomberg, a number plate that reads ‘R’ was sold at a Hong Kong auction for HK$25,5 million (around N$60 million) earlier this year.

There are others in the running that have yet to be sold.

The California plate ‘MM’ (which is named after the first owner) was last year listed for sale at 5 888 ethereum (around N$200 million), India Times reported, although we have yet to hear of it being sold.

The ‘F1’ plate in the United Kingdom could, however, one day be the most expensive.

Owned by car designer Afzal Kahn, it’s currently estimated to be worth around US$20 000 (or about N$366 million). – IOL News