South Australian investor adds to his collection buying historic number 25 plate for $436,000

A mystery SA buyer has paid an astonishing price for a piece of motoring history – enough to buy a CBD apartment with change left over.

A historic South Australian number plate has sold for a staggering $436,000 – or the equivalent of a standard city apartment.

A local buyer beat five rival local bidders for the number 25 plate, which fetched $166,000 more than the auction reserve.

Historic Plates proprietor Stewart Kay, who sold the plate, said the $436,000 price was a record for the public sale of a historic black-and-white numeric plate.

Mr Kay said the buyer – who has requested anonymity – would be the most “prolific” buyer of historic plates in SA.

“He has got best collection in South Australia he has a fair profile,” he said.

“The question will be is what magical car he’ll put number 25 on.

“I wish I had another five (plates) that I could sell at a similar price. I had a client laughing and saying plates are better than Bitcoin.”

Historic Plates Stewart Kay sold number 25 plate for a whopping $436,000 to a South Australian investor. Picture: Brenton Edwards

It was the first time the plate had been offered to the public in 115 years.

Mr Kay said the last plate his company had sold at public auction was number 17 which fetched $206,000.

The median price for a CBD apartment is $430,000, according to realestate.com

The owner of the number 25 plate will pay $43,600 in stamp duty to the state government.

The number 25 plate was among the first tranche of plates issued by the state government in 1906.

Its original owner was Adelaide solicitor Nathaniel Alexander Knox, who lived in historic Clifton Manor, Stonyfell, and helped to establish the West Terrace crematorium before his death in 1908.

The heirloom was bought privately by its previous owner in the late 1980s and was sold by their family to settle a deceased estate.

The most expensive publicly sold number plate was GP 1 which fetched $701,000 last year.