Along with the new number plate system that started in 2001, the DVLA also revised regulations on how car numbers plates should look, and the way in which they should be displayed. The revised regulations apply not only to plates registered from 2001 onwards, but also apply to replacement plates for cars registered before 2001.

The number one requirement for number plates is the typeface. Since 2001 all number plates must display a very simple sans serif typeface, which is easy to read for humans, and for electronic recognition systems such as traffic cameras. This requirement is somewhat of a frustration for individuals who like personalised number plates, but is a legal requirement since non-compliance could involve heavy fines. One decorative effect allowed is a 3D version of the mandatory typeface.

Colours and reflectivity of number plates are also regulated and there is a British standard (BS AU 145d) for the physical characteristics for number plates, including visibility, strength and reflectivity. Interestingly, front plates must have black letters on a white background, while rear plates must have black letters on a yellow background.

Other options for customisation are limited to the text next to the plate and the flag display, which can be  an English Flag (St George Cross) with ‘ENG’ on the plate, a Scottish Flag (St Andrew Cross) with ‘SCO’ on the plate or Welsh Flag (green dragon on green/white field) with ‘Cymru’ or ‘Wales’ on the plate. A popular design is the Euro Flag (circle of stars) combined with GB. This saves the driver from having to put a separate sticker on the car’s window that spells ‘GB’.

A recent survey has shown that private number plates are increasingly being given as gifts for every occasion. Interestingly most men are more likely than women to give a car number plate as a gift, perhaps because men have a bigger interest in cars than women do. Christmas is the most popular occasion for giving car number plates, which confounds researchers, as men tend not to plan ahead when it comes to gift-giving, shopping for Christmas gifts is usually a last minute affair for men.

Transferring a number plate can take up to three weeks, so it is a gift that needs to be planned for well in advance. The DVLA has issued over 30 million number plates over the past few decades, and it is very likely that you will be able to find a plate that offers a degree of personalisation, without being too expensive. Mother’s day is one of the easier occasions for which you can find personalised plates, because the suffix ‘MUM’ is readily available. It is a common plate and is usually not too expensive to purchase.

Having a unique plate with a meaningful connation is a great reminder of the relationship that exists between the giver and the recipient, since personalised number plates are gifts that ‘keep on giving’. Ownership of the plate can be transferred from one car to the next, so ‘MUM’ will always be remembered, assuming she enjoys driving her car, of course.

The new ’10’ series number plates have recently been released and this puts a whole new range of cherished number plates on the market, some of which will be virtually priceless. Top sellers are likely to include BE10 VED (Beloved), for those buying a car for that special someone, and LL10 YDS (Lloyds) which would suit the director of any company which has Lloyds in its name, of which there are many.

‘10’ series plates went on sale in December 2009, even though they are for cars registered from March 2010 onwards, as the DVLA attempts to maximise revenue from the new series. Strangely, a survey shows that even though the new plate series was introduced in 2001, few know how the date recognition system really works. The poll conducted by DVLA Personalised Registrations showed that only 17% of people polled, correctly identified that the 09 and 59 plates will be followed by the 10 and 60 plates. The current style consists of two letters, a figure age identifier, a space and three letters.

The confidence of the Swansea based authority is substantiated by the incredible demand from individuals who would like to own a cherished number plate. Retaining a popular number plate can also be an investment, as interest is likely to build over a period of time, since not everyone interested in buying a particular plate will be at the DVLA auction.

Personalised car number plates; also known as vanity number plates, prestige number plates, cherished number plates, custom number plates or simply private number plates, are legally permissible types of vehicle registration plates. Typically, personalised number plates are privately paid for by the car owner, in contrast to the free state supplied car registration plates assigned to new cars. Personalised number plates often set out a series of letters and / or numbers to stand for something recognisable, such as a person’s name or initials.

In the US, there are an estimated 10 million cars carrying personalised number plates. In state-by-state surveys it was revealed that Virginia had the highest percentage of cars with personalised number plates (some sixteen per cent), followed by New Hampshire (fourteen per cent), Illinois (thirteen per cent), Nevada (thirteen per cent), Montana (ten per cent), Maine (ten per cent), Connecticut (eight per cent), New Jersey (seven per cent), North Dakota (seven per cent) and Vermont (six per cent).

There is a series of letter / number combinations which are prohibited for use across the US. Letter combinations spelling out such words as ‘God’ and any swear words are not allowed to be used. Some prohibitions are state specific: New York does not allow cars with number plates such as ‘NYPD’ and so on.

Personalised number plates are often collectible items to aficionados. Auctions are common, with highly idiosyncratic number plates being very popular. Rare number plates can also be sold on websites.

Where purchasing a personalised number plate is concerned, there are basically three ways in which you can do this.  You can purchase these types of plates at an auction, through the DVLA, or privately.  Let’s consider the first option – purchasing them by way of an auction.  Purchasing a private number plate at one of the DVLA’s private auctions is a great way to acquire private number plates which are extremely exclusive or rare.

If you are an avid collector or investor, this is a great method to pursue.  However, where finances and money are concerned, you need to be very flexible.  Most of these auction lots have a reserve fee of at least £200, whereas others may fetch very high prices during the auction event.  As an example, in 2006, the plate numbered “51 NGH” sold for £254,000.  Additionally, in March of last year (2009), the personalised number plate labelled “1 D” was auctioned off at £352,000 a record for these types of auctions.

Normally, there are six auctions involving private number plates conducted every year.  They typically last three days and feature some 1,600 personalised number plates.  If you visit the DVLA website (http://dvlaregistrations.direct.gov.uk/) this enables buyers to place their bids in person, by telephone, or over the internet.

Additionally, you can also bid on these plates by virtue of a “sealed bid” if a live auction intimidates you.  These bids are invisible to other bidders but carry the same amount of weight towards the final winning price in the long run.

Personalised plates, or private number plates, are not something new in the UK.  In fact, the concept of number plates being used to personalise one’s vehicle dates back to 1903 when the vehicle identification system was implemented.  For those individuals who cherish and love their vehicles, private number plates (also referred to as private registration plates) is the ideal way to express your individuality and personality.  In so few characters, these types of number plates can say a lot about you.

In years gone by it was primarily celebrities and wealthy individuals who owned private number plates.  However that is not the case anymore.  Anyone with the financial means to purchase one usually can, but there are procedures to follow when so doing.  Additionally, if you have had a private number plate for a while, there are numerous factors to take into consideration when valuing it.  These include:

- the age of the plate
- current pricing trends
- the lowness of the numbering
- popularity of initials or names (if it is relevant)
- the rareness of the plate

You might be curious as to why an individual would want to know about the value of their private number plates.  There are numerous reasons, the primary consideration being if you are contemplating selling your number.  It is suggested that you visit three reputable vehicle dealers in order to obtain an estimate of your plate’s value.  Just beware that the vehicle dealer may overvalue the plate in order to win your business and make a sale.

Another avenue for purchasing private registration plates is to deal directly with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).  Thousands of personalised plates are available at the website.  Although that sounds like a large amount, bear in mind that only “new” private number plates are available through this method of purchasing. These are index marks that have not been registered to a vehicle previously.

If you’ve been searching for a number plate which spells out a phrase or words as well as one which catches everyone’s eye this may not be your best option and you may need to enlist the services of a private vehicle registration mark dealer.  If on the other hand your requirements are not that specific, the DVLA is the best place to start your search.  You have a number of options for purchasing a private number plate through the DVLA.  This includes purchasing them online, over the telephone, or even as a gift.

Once you have found what you are searching for as far as your personalised car number plate is concerned, you’ll want to make sure that the particular plate is still available, which you can do relatively effortlessly at the DVLA website.  Start by choosing from the list of those characters (alpha or numeric) which are still permissible and then click on the search button.  If your first choice is still available, it will be displayed in the search results.  If not, then you will have to invent another option.

If you have decided to purchase a personalised number plate through a private party, this is probably the best venue for finding a highly desirable registration plate for your vehicle.  Just remember that an auction or the DVLA is not the only place where you can purchase one of these types of number plates.  In fact, there is a good possibility that you could find the personalised number plate that you are searching for by looking at a private party sale.

This is primarily due to the fact that a majority of the UK private number plates have most likely changed hands on numerous occasions before they eventually land back on the market for purchase.  You should consider searching a number of private dealers who specialise in personalised number plates and are currently registered members of the Cherished Number Dealers Association, or CNDA, as it is most commonly referred to.

This organisation was originally established by the RMIF (Retail Motor Industry Federation) whose goal is to instil into the consumer some confidence when purchasing private plate numbers.  A strict code of conduct is regulated by this organisation, which participants and sellers in the programme must adhere to.

There are a number of CNDA options available for purchasing number plates privately, all of which have websites, inclusive of the following:

- Cape Plates
- Car Reg
- Elite Registrations
- National Numbers
- Reg Transfers
- Speedyreg
- The Personalised Numbers Agency
- The Private Plate Company

No matter if private number plates make you laugh out loud or cause you to raise your eyebrows, there is no discounting how popular these have become in recent decades.  Interestingly enough, the concept has been around over 100 years dating back to the inception of the vehicle identification system.  They are now considered to be a very popular vehicle accessory.  Additionally, the private “number plates for sale” market has grown into a multi-million pound industry here in the UK.

It follows then that some individuals would view these as a viable investment since there are already some very valuable ones currently in existence.  Long before the UK government had a clue as to their popularity, many dealers were already engaged in the trading of these types of number plates.  Furthermore, individuals today are prepared to pay whatever they have to in order to purchase the private number plate of their choice. 

What is interesting is that since 1989, UK vehicle owners have spent well over £950 million on private number plates at auctions just to get the private registration plate of their choice.  The benefit of these sales is that the funds accumulated from these auctions go directly to the Treasury, therefore helping the British economy.

The primary reasons that people have become interested in private number plates, and investing in them, is the fact that market and value trends have become quite significant in recent years.  These trends have witnessed a very significant increase in the value of private number plates, hence the current popularity in this form of investment.

Although being sometimes regarded as an unusual description for private number plates or private registration plates, the terminology “cherished number plates” has come into usage to describe this specific kind of car registration plates.  From a collectible standpoint the cherished number plate has become a viable form of investment. Some motorists and dealers who wish to realise a profit on these whenever they sell or trade them to vehicle dealers or individuals are active in the market.

Ironically, certain letter or number combinations have literally become legendary as a result of their increased popularity.  So it stands to reason why they are seen as a very viable investment from a collector’s standpoint.  Individuals get extremely attached to their cherished number plates because of the fact that they are typically viewed as an expression of one’s lifestyle or personality.  Unfortunately, previously banned letter combinations or words (e.g. SEX) are now allowable, hence some people’s distaste for the practice.

People normally shop for cherished number plates that contain letters that represent their initials or numbers that relate to their date of birth; this is common with celebrities and the more extrovert type of car owner.  Some businesses also seek out index marks that reflect the name of the business.  Although the practice of obtaining personalised number plates is often viewed as just a hobby or possibly some type of profit making occupation, most individuals are very serious about their private number plates and do actually ‘cherish’ them.