Last night’s Shannons auction was going as expected as people became proud owners of Skylines, HDT Commodores, and even a Mk1 Jensen Interceptor. All at reasonable prices too.

That was until a little black and white piece of pressed tin came up to the block. Okay, there were two of them.

Lot “AB”, a set of NSW historic numberplates which feature the number 29 on them, sold for an astonishing $745,000.

NSW historic plate number 29

While it’s understandable that these plates have long histories – especially ‘29’, which was first recorded at home on a Minerva in 1915 – it’s hard to understand why someone would drop near-Aventador money on one.

The way Shannons put it is that “its new owner has achieved instant membership of a very exclusive, low-digit numberplate club of just 90, whose ‘joining’ fee has risen steadily and reliably over the years.”

It’s probably going to keep rising, too. We imagine that plate will be kept in a safe rather than screwed onto a car.

1991 Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R

Guess which we’d rather have.

URJOKN number plate

That one’s going for $8000. The irony of using an expensive plate to express our confusion with other expensive plates is not lost on us.