DVLA's November 2023 auction was an online event that ran from Wednesday 22nd November to Tuesday 28th November.
As always, prices quoted in this report include fees and taxes.
Top registrations
Despite the proximity to Christmas, or maybe because of it, buyers were spending a little more this time. The top price was achieved by a number one initials plate, BSK 1, at £68,145. That's £20,000 more than the highest price paid at the previous auction.
Second place went to 151 AM ("Islam") at £40,539, and third place to HAY 9R ("Hayer") which made £38,600. Fourth was taken by 992 ST (£35,467), no doubt acquired for its Porsche reference, and in fifth place was 1 XAM (£32,206).
Name number plates
As we saw above, "Islam" and "Hayer" were the first name registrations in the rankings. Of course, "Islam" could also have been purchased as a reference to the faith. The next apparent name number was 44 YUB (Aayub) in 16th place overall at £22,743. Other names that sold included D47 CEY ("Darcey") at £10,352, DNE 4L ("D Neal" or "O'Neal") at £9,646, PAU 111B ("Paul B") at £9,119, H46 RRY ("Harry") at £7,797, RD51 NGH ("R D Singh") also at £7,797 and BR20 OWN ("Brown") at £6,513.
Lost for words?
There were, perhaps, fewer notable word registrations than we're accustomed to seeing. The top sum paid for a recognisable word was GH05 STT ("ghost") which went for £21,279. 247 GAS (£20,637) obviously spells "gas" but we have no idea if it was purchased for that by a business wanting to advertise 24/7 service, or if it was chosen as an initials plate. FUS 3D ("fused") sold for £12,933. HAG 911S (£9,338) works as "haggis" or as a Porsche plate for someone with the initials HAG.
Surprisingly controversial
We've written several times about DVLA's tendency to censor number plate releases by removing registrations that could be offensive or controversial. Commonly withheld or withdrawn numbers include those containing apparent references to religion, crime, sex, violence, profanity, drugs, terrorism etc. In light of this track record, we were very surprised indeed to note the inclusion of ASA 551N (£16,207) in the auction. We suspect the purchaser may be keeping several fingers crossed that DVLA doesn't reconsider and withdraw the plate. There is precedent as they have taken that step in the past.
The stats
November's DVLA online auction comprised 2,500 lots, 2,467 of which were sold and 33 unsold. Purchasers spent a total of £6,822,543, delivering £4,864,164 to the treasury.
| Plate | Price * |
|---|---|
| BSK 1 | £68,145 |
| 151 AM | £40,539 |
| HAY 9R | £38,600 |
| 992 ST | £35,467 |
| 1 XAM | £32,206 |
| 150 A | £32,193 |
| 11 PAV | £29,625 |
| 7 XW | £29,368 |
| 9 XV | £28,983 |
| 9 TOY | £27,057 |
| 11 ANH | £25,773 |
| FFO 1 | £25,773 |
| 410 O | £25,773 |
| 115 M | £24,360 |
| 5005 OO | £22,948 |
| 44 YUB | £22,743 |
| 76 XX | £21,921 |
| GH05 STT | £21,279 |
| 87 FM | £20,881 |
| 241 NM | £20,701 |
| 247 GAS | £20,637 |
| 1313 A | £20,021 |
| 7 ESH | £19,224 |
| 13 JSR | £18,082 |
| 4 EEM | £18,069 |
| 104 AJ | £17,054 |
| 112 AK | £16,772 |
| ASA 551N | £16,207 |
| 296 B | £16,169 |
| 3 OCM | £16,156 |
| 121 JB | £16,143 |
| 990 G | £15,758 |
| YAH 9A | £15,629 |
| 82 GO | £15,604 |
| 2 OMS | £15,488 |
| 65 SWB | £15,013 |
| 104 J | £14,859 |
| 54 DAM | £14,345 |
| 45 DPM | £14,217 |
| 155 MYL | £14,217 |
| 901 N | £14,217 |
| 25 UU | £14,050 |
| 812 FSF | £13,960 |
| LDU 1S | £13,909 |
| SSH 10 | £13,703 |
| KED 1A | £13,575 |
| 1 OMP | £13,575 |
| VVV 4 | £13,575 |
| 111 UCK | £13,061 |
| 10 JWH | £12,971 |
* Prices include fees and taxes.
The next DVLA online auction will run from Wednesday 10th to Tuesday 16th January 2024.
More great number plate auction information
The Regtransfers auction
Buy and sell with our number plate auction. You can see what is coming soon or jump in to the listings.
DVLA October 2023 Auction
Learn more about personal number plates that sold for great prices in the DVLA's previous auction.
