Cherished Number Plates

Cherished Number Plates – What are they?

Typically cherished number plates are usually dateless registration numbers that are dated pre 1963 and were usually found on vintage and classic vehicles. Nowadays a cherished number plate can be anything! You have the names, the dateless, the prefix and suffix registration numbers and now the newstyle number plates, not forgetting the Northern Ireland registration numbers it can mean absolutely nothing to you but to someone else everything. You can even get your full name.. example NGO 1D if you are called Nigel Gold. Cherished Number Plates are an investment!!

Years ago Cherished Number Plates as they were coined could cost tens of thousands of pounds and many still do just take a look at some of the recent sales in the auctions some numbers fetching over half a million pounds…. but you can get a Cherished Number Plate for you for as little as £116 all in see our cheap page

The ‘Term’ Cherished /Personalised number plate was coined because for these registration numbers to remain in circulation for such a long time ie their ownership had to be passed along, sometimes the registration number remaining in a particular family for generations.

The best example of one such Cherished Number Plate was the renowned A 1 number plate which was one of the first registration numbers given out by London County Council. The number plate was secured by Earl Russell who queued outside their offices in 1903 to acquire the registration number for his Napier and he had it until 1907 when he sold his Napier car with the A 1 number plate on to a gentleman called George Pettyt who was the chairman of the London County Council. He kept the number is his possession and had it transferred onto various vehicles. When Mr Pettyt died in 1950 the number plate was on a Sunbeam Talbot and was left in his will to a Mr Laker who in turn kept the registration number (this was stipulated in the will of Mr Pettyt that he had to retain the number plate until his death) until his death in 1970 .

After Mr Lakers death, Dunlop purchased the number plate for a staggering £2500 which on today’s market would probably be a million pounds plus’ and the money was donated to the Guide Dogs for the Blind as Mr Laker had stated it was his wish for a dogs charity to receive the money from the sale of the registration number A 1.

In the early 2000’s the registration A 1 was sold again and Prince Bolkiah a member of the Brunei Royal Family became the new owner and it was paired with 1 A to be displayed on matching white Bentley Azures. Quite a history !!!

How do I assign a Cherished Number Plate ?

If buying from a number plate dealer, this is usually done for you by them. If the number you are buying is on a retention certificate then the documents required are the current V5C for the receiving vehicle which has to be currently taxed and MOT’d. Most of these transfers can now be done instantly using the online facility via the DVLA website upon cleared funds, however if the application cannot be processed online then it will have to be posted to DVLA Swansea cherished number plate section and the transfer can take up to 10 days.

If the number you are buying is already on a vehicle then this will have to be posted and on most occasions is all processed within 14 days, however this can take longer if the donor vehicle needs to have a DVLA inspection (most pre-1963 vehicles need to be inspected by DVLA and the odd newer vehicle, however we cannot determine which ones).
The DVLA usually send an appointed inspector to come and check the vehicle and its identity. The cost incurred in transferring a cherished number plate is £80.00 which is made payable to DVLA Swansea.

How do I retain a Cherished Number Plate ?

The cost to Retain a cherished number plate is £80.00 which is made payable to DVLA Swansea. When you retain a number plate the certificate will show that the assignment fee has already been paid so you would not pay any further fees when you come to transfer the cherished number plate off the retention certificate at a later date.
A retention certificate is also now valid for 10 years from the date that the number plate is retained by DVLA Swansea.

How do I sell my number plate ?

If you have a cherished number plate that you want to sell, if this is on a retention certificate then all we require is the valid V750 or V778 document which can usually be transferred online using the DVLA website facility. If the number is on an existing vehicle then the rules require that the donor vehicle must have been taxed by yourselves when it had a current MOT and then you have 5 years to sell the number. If it goes over the 5 years then in order to sell the number plate you would have to get the vehicle re-taxed and MOT’d. All MOT’d exempt vehicles however do require a voluntary MOT to take part in the cherished number plate’s transfer rules set out by DVLA.

So a little bit of history for you and some common questions answered.

If you would like any information on a number plate you wish to sell or would like us to find a number plate to suit you then give our Sales Team a call we are always happy to help 0116 235 0116

Alternatively why not browse our huge database of cherished number plates.

• August 21st, 2019
• Posted in Classic Motors News, Motor Cars, Number Plates