Private numberplates have long been a popular purchase in the UK - but you might not believe how much the most expensive numberplates go for.

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 to their 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. Private registrations can be worth anywhere between a few hundred and several hundred thousand pounds. 

The most expensive 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, which are the most expensive registrations ever sold in the UK? We list the top 10 here.

The most expensive numberplates sold in the UK

1. 25 O - £518,480

The reg 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, a Ferrari 250 GTO sold for £30,750,300.

According to the DVLA, the plate now resides on an altogether more modern Ferrari: a 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 (or 15 TT RSs). 

2. X 1 - £502,500

Taking a narrow second place is the reg X 1. Little is known about the owner of the plate, but based on DVLA records it is currently in use on a hybrid Mercedes purchased in March 2024. The plate fetched its £502,500 price in November 2012. 

You could enjoy roughly ten Ford Mustangs for the amount paid for the X 1 plate, 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 whether 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 for a little over a year before X 1 was sold, pipping it by a mere £2500. It’s currently registered to a V8-engined Land Rover Defender, bought in 2024. 

We actually know a fair bit about its owner, who won a £148 million jackpot in the Euromillions lottery 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 £1m. 

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 it 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 on this list, F 1 sold in January 2008 for £440,625. It’s currently owned by Afzal Kahn, of Kahn Design fame, on a Bugatti Veyron. Before that, it was on a Volvo S80.

Kahn has expressed that he would part with the reg for more than £10m, but he isn't currently advertising it for sale.

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 it's currently fitted to a Bentley Continental GT. 

It was sold in April 2019 at a DVLA auction and could be yours should you decide not to opt for two Maserati MC20s instead.

7. S 1 - £404,063

S 1 was issued in 1903 as Scotland's first ever reg. Lord Kingsburgh, one of the first people in Scotland to buy a car, became its owner, and it remained in the family for generations.

It was bought by an anonymous bidder in 2008, who said it would be used on an old Skoda, although the DVLA now shows it as being registered to a gold Rolls-Royce Spectre.

Either way, it was a shrewd investment: the reg is currently valued at more than £1m.

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 – 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 the plate's £500k value today. 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 Citroën C3 You.

10. M 1 - £331,500

M 1 is another that found itself on a Bentley, this time 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 £1m. 

Its original £331,500 price could buy three Porsche 911 Carrera T coupés.

While our images are a close representation of the models that feature these numberplates, they aren't the owners' actual cars.