Vee whiz: Car registration plate with letters ‘VV’ sold for HK$9.3 million

Hongkongers’ obsession with lucky digits, especially the number eight, which rhymes with “wealth,” is well known, but turns out the letter “V” for “Victory” is also a big favorite, with one resident shelling out millions of dollars to have it on their car registration plate.

On Sunday, the Transport Department held the Lunar New Year License Plate Auction at the Wan Chai Convention and Exhibition Center where 45 license plates, most with the lucky number eight, were up for auction.

But the star of the show was one registration plate with the letters “VV.”

In January, local media reported that the estimated price of that plate was between HK$700,000 to HK$800,000 (US$89,000 to US$102,o00) with some guessing that it could be sold for a lot more, on.cc reported.

In the end, it was sold for HK$9.3 million (under US$1.19 million), making it the sixth-highest auction price for a car registration plate, Apple Daily reported.

The newspaper reported that the most amount of money spent on a license plate was HK$18.1 million (US$2.31 million) for “28,” followed by HK$16.5 million (US$2.11 million) for “18.”

This is not the first time a registration plate with a letter has gone up for auction, a registration plate with the single letter “V” sold for HK$13 million (under US$1.66 million) in February 2017. That plate had the third highest auction price for a registration plate, alongside a plate with the single number “9” that was sold in March, 1994.

Highest auction prices for car registration plates:

1 – “28” for HK$18.1 million (US$2.31 million)
2 – “18” for HK$16.5 million (US$2.11 million)
3 = “9” for HK$13 million (US$1.66 million)
3 = “V” for HK$13 million (US$1.66 million)
5 – “2” for HK$9.5 million (US$1.21 million)
6 – “VV” for HK$9.3 million (US$1.19 million)
7 – “16” for HK$8.5 million (US$1.09 million)
8 – “13” for HK$7.4 million (US$946,000)
9 – “12” for HK$7.1 million (US$907,000)
10 = “26” for HK$7 million (US$895,000)
10 = “29” for HK$7 million (US$895,000)
10 = “33” for HK$7 million (US$895,000)