Abu Dhabi licence plate sells for $2.75m

Abu Dhabi licence plate No 2 has sold for Dhs10.1m ($2.74m) in an auction held by the emirate’s police force on Saturday at the Emirates Palace hotel.

The overall sale of 60 series one Abu Dhabi number plates, to mark the 60th anniversary of Abu Dhabi Police, attracted 800 attendees and raised Dhs55m ($14.97m).

Prices ranged from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of thousands and millions of dirhams including Dhs120,000 ($32,671) for 1111.

Another plate, No 1957, started at Dhs1,000 ($272) but reached Dhs53,000 ($14,429) when bidding ended. Bidding for No 2 started at Dhs5m ($1.36m).

Earlier this year an Emirati businessman was put on trial after issuing a dud Dhs31m ($8.43m) cheque to buy Abu Dhabi car plate number one at a November 2016 auction.

He was quoted as saying he intended to sell the plate immediately for a profit and then pay back the large sum.

Read: Trial begins for man who bid Dhs31m for Abu Dhabi number plate 1

That auction of 50 plates saw sales worth more than Dsh99m ($26.95m).

Another auction in Dubai last October saw Dubai-based Indian businessman Balwinder Sahani pay Dhs33m ($8.98m) for the D5 number plate.

Read: Video: Dubai businessman pays nearly $9m for a number plate