Low-digit Delaware tag 20 goes for six digits at Rehoboth auction

Sarika Jagtiani | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Delaware's obsession with license plates Delaware vehicle registration laws have allowed low number tags to be passed down like a family heirloom leading to a collectible secondary market. 8/21/18

Among the clocks, Jack Lewis artwork and wicker furniture at a multi-estate sale this weekend, one bidder found a license plate they decided was worth more than most cars.

The black-and-white Delaware tag no. 20 went for $410,000 at an auction run by Emmert Auction Associates at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Sunday.

Once the price hit about $300,000 it was down to two bidders -- one in person, one on the phone -- and the tag went to a Delawarean from Milford, according to John Wakefield, owner of Delaware Tag Traders, an affiliate of Emmert Auctions. He said the $410,000 selling price exceeded expectations, but not by much. It's one of the highest-priced tags sold publicly in recent years, Wakefield said, surpassing the to $325,000 spent on tag 14 three years ago.

Low-digit tags are typically for sale once every month or six weeks at auction, but not tag numbers as low as 20.

Low-digit license plates draw large crowd at state DMVs

"When you have one like 20 it generates quite a stir and a buzz," Wakefield said.

It also drives up the price on others for sale at auction.

At Sunday's auction, buyers also picked up Delaware tags C2521 for $3,400, 9580 for $5,600, 2085 for $6,600, 3200 for $14,500, and PC33 for $45,000.

Naysayers don't get the appeal of the low-digit tags, so Wakefield likens it to baseball card collectors. It's an investment. And people love the buzz, he said.

But it's hard to explain to outsiders.

"It's a Delaware thing, that's for sure," he said. "That's the only thing you can say to it."

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