DVLA's July auction was a timed online event that ran from Wednesday 26th July to Tuesday 1st August 2023. The auctions are always interesting but the July sale was pretty exceptional, as you'll see.
All prices quoted are inclusive of fees and taxes.
Superstars
There were so many highlights to this auction that it's difficult to know where to begin. Just joking: clearly we have to start with the headliners. There were two sales that broke the £100,000 ceiling: H1 NDU (£143, 901) and 1 DEO (£136,300).
H1 NDU requires no explanation as it is about as clear a representation of a word as one could hope to see. A really excellent plate and the price isn't really that surprising: quality delivers.
1 DEO is a little more intriguing. As a rule, number 1 registrations with the letters first tend to achieve the highest prices. Not only is this a digit-first example but the DEO combination is not one of the more common initial sets. Its appeal may be that Deo is also an Indian and Greek name. As a word, "ideo" is Esperanto for "idea". In English it is a prefix or combining form used in words such as "ideology" and "ideogram". There is also at least one company operating under the name Ideo.
Two very different numbers achieving over £100,000 shows the strength of the market. It also provides an example of why private plates are such an interesting investment. If one can identify potential buyers for plates, especially where competition may exist, then the sky really is the limit.
Next level
These days, an auction just doesn't seem complete without an 'O' registration near the top of the rankings, so the appearance of 67 O in third place was welcome. With the buyer paying a strong £93,696, 67 O may well have taken the day at a different auction. As it was, it beat the prices paid for examples sold earlier this year, such as 82 O (£89,960 in June), 197 O (£54,021 in March/April), and 46 O (£75,194 at February's live venue event)
Fourth place belonged to 1 TLL, whose £48,885 price was presumably paid for the TLL initials and fifth place was taken by MR15 LAM. This was another great name representation and Mr Islam got a fine personal plate for his £39,897.
No surprises
As well as the recently ubiquitous 'O' plates, there are other auction favourites that one can usually rely on. Names and initials go without saying, as do words in general. These are the evergreen categories that most people would say epitomise private number plates. However, many other registrations come and go as the world changes. Private registrations relating to cryptocurrencies are a good example. We've seen several plates bearing the abbreviations of assorted crypto over the last couple of years. This intangible wealth was represented at the July auction by BTC 1D (£19, 353). We can't help wondering if the buyer was motivated partly by the slightly ironic juxtaposition of the abbreviation for Bitcoin and the abbreviation for one, pre-decimalisation, sterling penny.
OMG! Quirky honourable mentions
Bearing in mind DVLA's sensitivity regarding number plates that may cause offence, we were amused to observe the unhindered sale of OMY 60D for £18,069. Technically blasphemous perhaps, but surely pretty harmless.
Another plate with a possible religious connection sold for £25,773. 6 ODS may, of course, have been chosen for the initials but, visually, it is a great representation of the word "gods". Unlike OMY 60D, this one was a pretty safe bet to get through DVLA's sensitivity filtering.
TAX 3D may have been purchased by someone eager to show Revenue and Customs that their return for the tax year is up to date but, equally, it may now belong to an unfortunate soul who thinks their last bill was inflated and unjust. Still, in either case, at least they had £14,499 left over to buy the number plate.
Lastly, we saw another of those apparently meaningless numbers that have become a regular feature of the auctions. AAA 3A achieved a very respectable £28 341. If there is any cryptic meaning hidden in it then we have been unable to see it. So far as we can tell, like several other numbers in recent auctions its appeal lies solely in its visual impact.
Vital statistics
The July auction saw 2485 numbers sold and 15 numbers unsold. Bidders spent almost £8M in total..
| Plate | Price * |
|---|---|
| H1 NDU | £143,901 |
| 1 DEO | £136,300 |
| 67 O | £93,696 |
| 1 TLL | £48,885 |
| MR15 LAM | £39,897 |
| 1 VLB | £32,321 |
| AAA 3A | £28,341 |
| 76 OO | £27,442 |
| 48 AY | £25,773 |
| HAK 13M | £25,773 |
| 6 ODS | £25,773 |
| 585 A | £22,049 |
| SAF 4H | £21,433 |
| AYR 4A | £20,637 |
| BTC 1D | £19,353 |
| 681 M | £19,353 |
| ATT 22G | £19,340 |
| 345 Y | £18,711 |
| OMY 60D | £18,069 |
| 34 SV | £18,069 |
| 244 RA | £17,748 |
| 190 J | £17,696 |
| 63 GTS | £17,555 |
| REG 3N | £16,875 |
| AR58 NAL | £16,785 |
| 110 CM | £16,785 |
| 10 UO | £16,785 |
| 130 V | £16,785 |
| 61 LLX | £15,783 |
| 2 RYM | £15,629 |
| 1 VGH | £15,629 |
| ANE 4L | £15,578 |
| 110 CP | £15,501 |
| 3 SUF | £15,501 |
| 11 XG | £15,501 |
| 4 RWH | £15,488 |
| 900 DM | £14,859 |
| 1 XST | £14,846 |
| 88 XD | £14,705 |
| TAX 3D | £14,499 |
| 7 OOV | £14,332 |
| 103 H | £14,281 |
| ABS 27 | £14,230 |
| 991 MS | £14,217 |
| 350 P | £14,217 |
| POR 4C | £14,217 |
| 8 SSL | £14,204 |
| 1 ORT | £14,165 |
| 24 OK | £13,254 |
| 64 GAN | £12,959 |
* Prices include fees and taxes.
DVLA's next auction will be an online event running from Wednesday 6th September to Tuesday 12th September 2023.
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DVLA June 2023 Auction
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