Money raised from the sale at auction of short or easy-to-remember number plates should go through the £2,000,000 barrier after tomorrow’s sale at the Great Hall at Highlands College.
The total raised from Department for Infrastructure auction sales currently stands at £1,927,240, with some interesting numbers among the 50 lots going under the hammer this weekend.
J001 is amongst the numbers up for sale and is already creating a lot of interest, and J003 is also being offered.
There are also some sequential numbers, which usually prove popular with couples, families or businesses for their fleet vehicles.
These include J9545 and J9546; JSY63 and JSY64; and JSY141, JSY142 and JSY143. There are also some very attractive six-digits, such as J311111.
Deputy Eddie Noel, Minister for Infrastructure said: ‘J001 is a very desirable number to have on your car and I think it will bring quite a few bidders willing to pay a premium price at our annual auction. It will raise much-needed funds for my department, as will the other 49 memorable numbers up for the highest bidders.’
The auction held last June raised a total of £148,090 for the sale of 58 registration marks, including J002, which sold for £22,000. However, in 2016 J008 and J009 fetched £50,000 each. This was not a record, because in 2013 JSY1 sold for £65,000.
The Department for Infrastructure also sells unissued five- and six-digit numbers (which can be used to display significant dates, birthdays, anniversaries etc up to J311299) over the counter at the DVS offices at La Collette for £250 and from time to time offers batch releases of four-digit numbers for £2,500.
Income from auction sales pays for essential DVS equipment and other transport-related items such as:
- The electric bike scheme.
- The replacement of vehicle-testing equipment for DVS.
- Bus shelters.
- Improving pedestrian crossings and walking facilities.
The highest-known figure paid for a number plate in Jersey at a non-Department for Infrastructure auction was £73,000 by an unknown buyer for J27 in July 2017. In 2015 someone in Guernsey paid £240,000 for 007.
The short or easy-to-remember number plates are up for auction at 10.30 am on Saturday 28 April 2018 at the Great Hall at Highlands College (doors open at 9 am).
The full list of the 50 numbers can be found on www.jerseyauctioneers.com.
