$24.5 Million ‘MM’ Licence Plate Set to Become World’s Most Expensive Private Number Plate
The owner of the rare California licence plate ‘MM’ has put it up for sale at an incredible $24,545,011.20, which would make it the world’s most expensive personalised number plate. The plate is paired with a non-fungible token (NFT) which is secured by the Ethereum cryptocurrency network – the seller’s transaction method of choice.
In California, single character licence plates are not available to the public, meaning that two-character plates are the rarest. Those with repeated letters or numbers are rarer still, so ‘MM’ is one of only 35 double character configurations. With more than 35 million vehicles registered in California, that makes it pretty unique.
However, when you think how many houses and cars you could buy for $24.5 million (£17.95 million), it would be an extraordinary price to pay for a private number plate. The seller believes there will be an extremely rich car enthusiast who can see the value in the exclusivity of the one-of-a-kind ‘MM’ personalised plate.
It was only in 2017 that the California DMV made it possible to transfer licence plates to a new owner, opening up the state’s secondary number plate market. The ‘MM’ plate is the first ever known to be transferred using an NFT. The NFT is a smart contract that proves the plate’s authenticity and ownership. The back of the licence plate is laser inscribed with a unique ID number and QR code.
The person who decides to invest in the ‘MM’ plate will actually be buying the NFT at a price of 5,888 Ethereum cryptocurrency units. The conversion rate to dollars explains the unusual dollar price.
The same seller is also selling the Texas registered ‘MM’ licence plate. The NFT is offered for 2,888 Ethereum ($12,039,061.20), which is a comparative bargain!
World’s Priciest Private Number Plates
While not matching up to $24.5 million, exclusive personalised number plates have previously changed hands for vast sums of money. The previous most expensive plate sold publicly in the US was the number ‘6’ which went for $675,000 (£494,200) in Delaware.
The world’s highest price publicly paid for a private plate was $14,800,000 (£101m) for the number ‘1’ in Abu Dhabi. The UK’s most expensive number plate to date was ‘25 O’ which was sold in 2014 for £518,480 and is now displayed on a classic Ferrari 250 GTO.
Earlier this year, a New York seller advertised a 1998 Volvo V70 for $20 million. What made it special was the personalised number plate ‘NEW YORK’ which, along with the state identifier, gives you ‘NEW YORK, NEW YORK’, and we all know that tune. However, there seems to be some doubt as to whether the exclusive plate can be legally transferred to a new owner. The buyer might just end up with the world’s most expensive used Volvo.
All previous prices could be eclipsed by one of the most sought-after personalised number plates – the iconic ‘F1’. In 2018 it had an asking price of £14.4 million ($20.5m), but an ultra-wealthy motorsports enthusiast could be prepared to pay much more. Of course, you could always search for a private number plate.
Image Source; Google Images
