'Diana' plate up for auction

The elusive registration, D1 ANA, will be the star attraction at an auction in London this week.

The digit, '1', in the prescribed number plate font, looks exactly the same as a capital 'I'. So, although it must be displayed with a space between it and the 'A', to all intents and purposes, the plate clearly reads 'DIANA'.

The only other number to have an identical alpha counterpart is '0'. Again, a peculiarity of the approved font makes it indistinguishable from a capital O'.

The near-perfection of this representation, coupled with the extraordinary interest in probably the most famous 'Diana' of all time, the late Princess of Wales, will almost certainly ensure a spectacular price. Accordingly, Coys of Kensington, the organisers of the sale, are expecting bids of between £80,000 and £100,000.

As well as motor car memorabilia, the auction, to be held at The Royal Horticultural Halls, will feature rare examples of sporting guns and collectable electric and acoustic guitars.

As you would expect, Regtransfers.co.uk, the UK's leading supplier of quality registrations, offers some of the very best examples of these 'perfect' names, such as CEC 1L, N1 ALL and V1 OLA.

Although the letters 'I' and 'O' have always been used in vehicle registrations, they were omitted from the the 1963 suffix and 1983 prefix systems in order to avoid confusion with number ones and zeros.

Other numerals can, however, still bear a passing resemblance to letters, as shown by the following examples:

2=R or Z, 3=B, 4=A, 5=S, 6=G or b, 7=T or Y, 8=A or B and 9=g.

For more, please see our fascinating Plate Speak page

This site can help you find some very clever, interesting and amusing registrations based on the application of these principles. Simply type your name into the search box and see what happens.

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