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[1] A personalised car number plate in Hong Kong has fetched HK$20 million at a government auction. The plate – featuring the letter “H” – reached 4,000 times its reserve price. It is the fourth most expensive plate ever sold in Hong Kong. At last month’s Chinese New Year auction of vehicle registration marks, other high bids included the plates “30” at HK$4.55 million, “101” at HK$1.01 million and “2288” at HK$470,000.
[2] The single-letter H plate drew the top bid among the 49 plates sold. It went to a man who outbid three rivals in a fierce contest that saw more than 50 bids. The rare single-letter plate had an opening price of just HK$5,000 but shot up to HK$5 million on the first bid. The three rivals engaged in a fierce battle. It was sold to a middle-aged man in black wearing a face mask and holding a plaque numbered “135”, who brushed off media questions on leaving.
[3] The city’s Transport Department allows only 23 English letters for plates, excluding “I”, “O” and “Q”. The H plate trails behind the “D” plate’s HK$20.2 million sale in 2024 by just HK$200,000. The most expensive plate ever sold in the city was “W”, which went for HK$26 million in 2021, at 5,200 times its starting price.
[4] Number-only plates proved popular too. Several drew fierce bidding. Plate “30” took the second-highest bid of the day. It was sold to a male bidder for HK$4.55 million after jumping from HK$1.88 million to HK$3 million amid a two-way contest. Plate “101” was also hotly contested. It sold for HK$1.01 million from a HK$705,000 reserve. Amid a two-bidder duel, one pushed “101” to HK$1 million before the other clinched it at HK$1.01 million.
[5] Numbers-only “2288” fetched HK$470,000, which was HK$150,000 higher than its reserve. Plates containing the number “8” sold at lower prices than their numbers-only counterparts. The number “8” is considered auspicious in Chinese culture due to its similar pronunciation to “prosperity” in Cantonese.
[6] “GG 8888” rose from a reserve of HK$310,000 to a winning bid of HK$810,000. The price was raised in increments that jumped to HK$10,000 at the HK$420,000 mark. Plate “HK 8886” sold at HK$96,000 from a reserve of HK$52,000 and plate “HK 8830” sold at its starting price of HK$59,000. Car plate “JZ 8888”, however, had no takers.
Source: South China Morning Post, March 1
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