Hong Kong car plates single letter ‘S’ fetched HK$14.2 million at this Lunar New Year vehicle registration marks

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The Lunar New Year auction of vehicle registration marks by the Hong Kong Transport Department was held on Sunday (February 16) at Meeting Room N201, L2, New Wing, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai.

There were two highest bid car number plates on Sunday, one that bears a single letter “S” and the other the double-digit “88”,  each got more than HK$11 million (US$1.4 million) at auction in Hong Kong beyond expectations.

A total of 49 vehicle registration marks were put up for public auction by the Transport Department. Forty-eight of them are traditional vehicle registration marks (TVRMs), and one of them is a personalised vehicle registration mark (PVRM)

The “S” plate, a rare single-letter registration mark, fetched HK$14.2 million, the highest price among all plates sold. The plate had an opening price of just HK$5,000 but a prospective buyer offered HK$8 million as soon as bidding started.

Meanwhile, the “88” plate went for HK$11.4 million, the second-highest price of the day, with bidding lasting about 13 minutes. The number 8 is associated with the word “fortune” in Chinese.

According to Hong Kong-based insurance broker Automate Wealth Management (AWM), the “S” plate had been expected to fetch at least HK$10 million ahead of the auction.

Single-letter number plates were regarded as a sign of status and “S” was closely associated with the Superman logo, the firm said.

The “88” plate had been expected to sell for at least HK$8 million, AWM said.

Overall, 35 of the plates up for auction were sold, with proceeds totalling HK$26,763,000. The other 14 marks on offer failed to sell.

Among the other plates sold, one bearing the number “183” fetched HK$725,000, while “BB 18” went for HK$430,000.

Eye-watering sums have been paid for single-letter plates at previous Lunar New Year auctions.

The most expensive plate auctioned in Hong Kong carries only the letter “W” and went for HK$26 million in 2021. An “R” plate sold for HK$25.5 million in 2023.

For numbers only, among the most expensive plates auctioned was “28”, with the buyer forking out HK$18.1 million in 2016.

香港車牌單字母「S」在今年農曆新年車輛登記標誌拍出1,420萬港元

香港運輸署農曆新年車輛登記號碼拍賣活動於週日（2月16日）在灣仔香港會議展覽中心新翼二樓N201會議室舉行。

週日，兩輛出價最高的車牌號，其中一輛帶有單個字母“S”，另一輛帶有兩位數“88”，每輛車牌在香港拍賣會上均拍得超過 1100 萬港元（140 萬美元），超出預期。

運輸署公開拍賣共49個車輛登記號碼。 其中 48 個是傳統車輛登記標記 (TVRM)，其中一個是個人化車輛登記標記 (PVRM)

罕見的單字母註冊商標「S」牌以1,420萬港元成交，為所有售出牌照中最高價。 該盤開盤價僅5,000港元，但一開拍就有潛在買家出價800萬港元。

同時，「88」牌以1,140萬港元成交，為當日第二高價，競價持續約13分鐘。 數字8在漢語中與「福」字相關。

據香港保險經紀商Automate Wealth Management (AWM)稱，拍賣前「S」盤的預計售價至少為1,000萬港元。

該公司表示，單字母車牌被視為身份的象徵，「S」與超人標誌密切相關。

AWM 表示，「88」牌預計售價至少 800 萬港元。

總共拍賣的車牌共 35 幅，成交金額達港幣 26,763,000 元。 其餘 14 個標價未能售出。

其他成交的車牌中，編號為「183」的車牌以725,000港元成交，而「BB 18」則以430,000港元成交。

在之前的農曆新年拍賣會上，單字母車牌的成交價令人瞠目結舌。

香港拍賣的最貴車牌只有字母“W”，2021 年以 2,600 萬港元成交。

僅就數字而言，拍賣中最昂貴的車牌是“28”，買家在 2016 年花費了 1,810 萬港元。