In September 2026, separate auctions, some 6,500 miles apart, saw some of the world's most expensive vehicle registration numbers offered for sale. In the UK, a Bonhams auction at Goodwood Revival included the sale of 2 X for over a quarter of a million pounds, while in Malaysia, the number plate H 1 achieved a price of MYR 10.78 million - equivalent to almost £2 million.
£259,600
MYR 10.78M
There have been quite a few impressive private plate sales recently. However, prices that once would have been record-breaking, are now blogworthy, but perhaps no longer the headline grabbers they once would have been.
It should be noted that most private registration prices that are in the public domain are achieved at auction. The nature of a public auction sale makes it impractical to try to keep hammer prices secret, unlike private sales made by or through a company, where personally identifiable information is protected by law. That requirement for privacy in private transactions means that a significant number of number plates sold privately have commanded even higher prices than the staggering sums paid for the most expensive auction plates.
Despite the veil that obscures those intriguing private transactions, there is more than enough auction action to hold the enthusiast's interest, and four of the personal registrations sold at September's Goodwood auction earned themselves spots in Regtransfers' rankings of the top 100 most expensive number plates sold (publicly) in the UK.
Goodwood delivers
Automotive events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival provide the perfect setting for auction sales of all things car-related. Top auction house Bonhams is a fixture at the Goodwood events and, as we have reported many times, their auctions always deliver some talking points.
In a Bonhams auction held on 19th September at Goodwood Revival 2026, a striking array of private number plates went under the hammer. Among the lots were 15 short dateless plates, and one suffix registration spelling the word "PASSION".
The auction lots sold by Bonhams on 19th September included:
| Registration | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 X | £259,600 | The characters X and O/0 are always popular, even when they don't form initials or part of a name or word. They often have great visual impact, especially in short combinations like this. |
| 9 X | £236,000 | |
| RR 7 | £182,900 | A great number for a Rolls-Royce, or for anyone with the initials RR. |
| ACE 1 | £218,300 | Self-explanatory. The appeal of this one is obvious. |
| 42 D | £53,100 | Another short, single-letter combination that has visual appeal even if the number has no special significance. |
| PPP 1 | £46,020 | Number-one plates are amongst the most coveted. Single-digit number-ones command the highest prices. |
| 90 X | £44,840 | |
| 30 X | £44,840 | |
| 100 X | £30,680 | |
| BPG 1 | £24,780 | One's initials and the number one. For the right person, surely a combination like this is great value at this price. |
| 150 X | £23,600 | |
| 13 AC | £21,240 | The number 13 has a lot of traditional significance in many contexts. |
| 1 WGS | £20,650 | Number-first is not the most sought-after arrangement, as most buyers prefer the letters to appear first followed by the number one, but a number-one plate in either configuration is desirable. |
| 1 WSP | £19,470 | |
| PAS 510N | £11,800 | Word number plates don't get much easier to read, and a word that can mean many things. |
The prices above include transfer fee, buyers' premium and applicable tax.
Word number plates don't get much easier to read, and a word that can mean many things.
Perfect harmony
Around the same time as Bonhams was delivering their spectacular performance at Goodwood, some 6,500 miles away in Malaysia, another auction was putting on its own show.
The country's transport ministry offered a large number of private registration numbers at a sale timed to coincide with the celebration of Malaysia Day, commemorating the formation of Malaysia in 1963. A statement from the ministry after the auction said that 8,223 registrations had been taken up, raising MYR 91.2 million Malaysian Ringgit (£16.9million). The auction attracted more than 34,000 bidders!
The top sale was that of H 1, which sold for MYR 10.78 million (£1.97million). That price was enough to earn H 1 the 28th position in Regtransfers' rankings of the top 50 most expensive number plates sold in the world.
The “H” series was chosen to represent “harmony”, which was considered appropriate for Malaysia Day. The transport ministry said that 'H' was the last single-letter series it plans to offer for sale.
