‘Most Noble Numbers’: Why the car number plate 'P7' became the world's most expensive

In India, the RTO office provides every vehicle with an identification number, also known as a number plate. Yet, you might anticipate things to be handled differently in Dubai. In the United Arab Emirates city, VIP licence plates were available for purchase for a high price. With regard to the latest one, it recently set a Guinness World Record for being the most expensive number plate in the world. According to Bloomberg, a two-character car licence plate offered by Emirates Auction LLC sold for a staggering 55 million dirhams ($15 million or Rs 123 crore) over the course of the week, making it the world’s most expensive licence plate ever sold. World’s most expensive car number plate sold During the “Most Noble Numbers” auction, which was held in association with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives and took place at the Four Seasons hotel in Jumeirah, plate number “P7,” which at first glance appears to be the number ‘7’ by itself with the ‘P’ off to the side, was put up for auction.

The money raised, which was close to 100 million dirhams ($27 million or ~Rs 222 crore), will go to the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid-founded One Billion Meals Endowment campaign, a global food project. Taking to Instagram, the auction house wrote, “We are proud to announce that the ‘Most Noble Numbers’ charity auction organised by Emirates Auction has set a new world record and entered the Guinness Book of Records!” “Plate number P7 was sold for a whopping 55 million dirhams, making it the most expensive number in the world. We are thrilled that the proceeds will go directly towards supporting the ‘1 Billion Meals Endowment’ campaign, which aims to establish the largest Ramadan sustainable food aid endowment fund.” It is unknown who purchased the record-breaking unique licence plate. Also read: Anant Ambani buys Dubai’s costliest residential property ever The bidding For a vanity number, often known as a VIP number, people frequently pay millions of rupees. The main explanations for its strong demand, according to the Times of India, include superstition or religion, numerology, uniformity, status symbolism, ease of remembering, having money will spend it, and more. Outside of the Middle East, the VIP licence plates have also fetched staggering prices: earlier this year, the single-letter “R” plate was purchased for HK$25.5 million ($3.2 million or ~Rs 263 million) at an auction in Hong Kong. In order to raise money for charity, the UAE regularly auctions off vanity licence plates that the super-wealthy use to flaunt their rank and wealth. The P7 licence plate had a beginning bid of 15 million dirhams (~Rs 33 crore), but it quickly increased to almost 30 million dirhams. The proposal was made by Pavel Valeryevich Durov, the founder of the Telegram app, a French-Emirati businessman, and it remained at 25 million dirhams (~Rs 55 crore) for a while. The bid panel number seven, who intended to stay secret, raised the price swiftly till it reached 55 million dirhams. As each bid was made, the audience roared and applauded. Any automobile registered in the emirate, whether or not it is a supercar, may use the licence plate that was sold over the weekend.

Several more unique licence plate numbers were offered at the auction, including the ten two-digit numbers AA19, AA22, AA80, O71, X36, W78, H31, Z37, J57, and N41. Other numbers included in the auction included Y900, Q22222, and Y6666. O 71 was purchased for AED 150 million, Q22222 for AED 975,000, while the number AA19 was sold for AED 4.9 million. Dubai’s history of buying expensive number plates The mega-wealthy have long used Dubai as a safe haven to flaunt their wealth and lead tax-free lives. The emirate’s economy is solid, with high oil prices benefiting its closest neighbours and most significant clients, while other regions of the world are concerned about an economic slump. The real estate market has been boosted by an infusion of riches, according to Bloomberg. Even middle-class expats spend lavishly on cars they can now afford because of reduced sales tax rates abroad compared to at home. But the current Covid-era boom has raised rents and put middle-class people under pressure. An automobile with the number 1 plate from Abu Dhabi sold for a record-breaking 52.2 million dirhams (~Rs 116.3 crore) in 2008.

Plate D 5 was purchased by businessman Balvinder Singh Sahni, also known as Abu Sabah, in 2016 for 33 million dirhams (~Rs 74 crore). In an interview on Monday, he claimed that Dubai was “a city of gold,” as per The Seattle Times. “It’s a city of big people, secure people, nice people. So everybody wants to show their status.” Sahni recalled being denied access to the opulent Burj Al Arab hotel in 2006 because of the excessive number of numbers on his vehicle’s registration plate. He was informed that he required a reservation or a number plate with two digits. “Having a single-digit number was always my ambition,” he remarked. “I went all in when I got the chance and they promised me this money is all going to charity.” The fourth letter of the alphabet, D, when added to the number five, yields the number nine, according to Sahni, who calls himself a numbers geek. Also read: Dubai remains world’s busiest international airport in December, Delhi moves to 7th. Know the top 10 Most expensive number plates in the world The most expensive number plates are ‘MM’ (Rs 180 crore), ‘F1’ (Rs 154 crore), ‘New York’ (Rs 154 crore), ‘1’ (Rs 73 crore), ‘09’ (Rs 51 crore), ‘7’ (Rs 30 crore), ‘2’ (Rs 20 crore), reported India Times. The “MM,” which stands for the first owner Michael Modecki’s initials, has been put up for sale on the well-known NFT marketplace OpenSea for the asking price of 5,888 Ethereum cryptocurrency, which is worth around $24.3 million (Rs 188 crore). The second-most expensive licence plate in the world ‘F1’, owned by UK-based automotive designer Afzal Kahn, is worth $20 million (Rs 154 crore). The licence plate, which reads “New York,” has belonged to the same family since the late 1970s, when the seller’s father purchased it for a low price as soon as it was possible to personalise licence plates in America. Despite featuring the registration “New York” in the business, the owner of this licence plate has put his Volvo V70 up for sale for $20 million ((Rs 154 crore)) on the duPont Registry webpage, making it the most expensive Volvo ever. Auction for unique mobile numbers Also, a charity auction for one-of-a-kind cellphone numbers was organised in Dubai, raising a staggering 53 million dirhams. For 2 million dirhams, du’s Platinum mobile number (971583333333) was purchased, reported Hindustan Times. The first-ever “Most Noble Numbers” auction, which was conducted in 2021, brought in almost AED 50.45 million in a single evening. With inputs from agencies

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