Rare and iconic number South Australian plate fetches eye-watering price at auction
How much?! A South Australian number plate has sold for a record seven-figure price at auction with car enthusiasts eager to get their hands on the iconic ‘plate 8’.
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A South Australian number plate has sold for a record price at auction with car enthusiasts eager to get their hands on the iconic ‘plate 8’.
Auction records were smashed with the number plate ‘8’ selling for more than $2.3m after a bidding war.
The sought-after plate 8 was one of the first numeric plates issued in South Australia in 1906.
It was put up for auction in late August with bidding starting at $600,000 and on Monday night sold for a record $2,300,100.
The previous record was set in 2020 when the plate ‘1’ commemorating the Adelaide Grand Prix went for $593,000 at auction.
It was anticipated the plate would fetch a high price but the final figure exceeded pre-auction expectations.
The new owner of the plates remains a mystery.
Number 8 represents luck and prosperity in Chinese numerology and is considered the luckiest number in Chinese culture.
It is said to represent strength, prosperity and victory.
Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the “hotly contested competition to be the one to land the iconic 8 did not disappoint”.
“After the New South Wales number 1 went for over $10 million earlier this year, we knew there would be significant interest in our iconic plate 8,” he said.
“The new owners of the ‘8’ and the other genuine numeric plates like 55 and 873 have incredibly rare and exclusive pieces of South Australian automotive history in their hands.”
Revenue raised from the auction will be returned to the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to fund road works in South Australia.
Plate ‘8’ is the first single digit numeric plate to be sold by the government since plates 3,6 and 9 were sold at the 1985 Great Plate Auction, fetching $11,000, $6,500 and $7,000 respectively.
A total of 28 plates were up for grabs on Monday night with a total of $4,014,073 raised.
Other high-fetching plates included plate 55 selling for $625,100 and plate 873 going for $165,100.
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Originally published as Rare and iconic number South Australian plate fetches eye-watering price at auction
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