The auction price a Lewes man is paying for a license plate points to the strength of Delaware’s unique market for low-numbered tags.
Edward Troice bid $170,000 Sunday in Rehoboth Beach to take home the Delaware porcelain black and white vehicle ID bearing the number 67.
William Emmert of Emmert Auction Associates says the high value placed on the rare, low-number black and white license plates is a uniquely Delaware phenomenon.
“There are some other states that trade the plates, Rhode Island being one, California is doing it in a small way, but nobody even approaches Delaware as far as the intensity of the values and the bidding or the prestige involved with owning one,” said Emmert.
Emmert adds it’s likely the value of the plate will sustain, if not increase in the coming years.
“What I like about people paying a lot of money for license plates is that it’s almost like owning a great piece of art. You get to appreciate it every day," said Emmert. "You receive a certain amount of prestige from having it on your car and yet they seem to be going up all the time.”
Emmert says the porcelain plate sold Sunday was owned by a man from Greenville. He notes it’s most expensive plate sold since he auctioned a number 6 license plate for $700,000 four years ago.
In general, the lower the number, the more valuable the plate is.
Emmert auctions around 50 to 70 of the coveted license plates each year.