Cherished Number Plates News

Famous Number Plate To Be Auctioned

04 December 2008

Being back in a chemistry class is something which the majority of us used to dred. The teacher would drone on and on about the elements and chemical reactions and so on and so forth. However, one lucky bidder may have the chance to buy himself a golden number plate by using his chemistry know-how say the auction officials.

AU 1, which is was the first ever number plate issued by the Nottingham Borough Council in December on 1903 is due to go up for auction, as one news agency reported last week.

Since it was first used in 1903, the plate has had a consecutive list of owners and was always sought after quite ererly by buyers who recognized the number plate’s potential and history.

It was used by the makers of the Ian Fleming film; James Bond Goldfinger. Because of the villain’s nickname, they mounted the number plate to his Rollls-Royce Phantom III, a small fact which was overlooked or simply not understood by the majority of viewers.

Bonhams, the auctioneers, are to include the plate in their annual motoring sale at West London's Olympia exhibition hall, where it is expected to command a sale price of more than £80,000. However as we have seen over the last few days in previous auctions, number plates can often triple their expected sales figures, such as the I RH plate which sold for over one quarter of a million pounds sterling.

Also going under the hammer, will be the Lotus featured in The Spy Who Loved Me. The missile-launching car-submarine hybrid is expected to attain a price of around £120,000.