appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Jess Ma

A personalised car number plate featuring the letter “H” has fetched HK$20 million (US$2.55 million) at a government auction – reaching 4,000 times its reserve price to become the fourth most expensive one ever sold in Hong Kong.
Other high bids at Sunday’s Chinese New Year auction of vehicle registration marks included the plates “30” at HK$4.55 million, “101” at HK$1.01 million and “2288” at HK$470,000.
The single-letter H plate drew the top bid among the 49 plates sold, going to a man who outbid three rivals in a fierce contest that saw more than 50 bids.
The rare single-letter plate had an opening price of just HK$5,000 but shot up to HK$5 million on the first bid before three rivals engaged in a fierce battle.
It was sold to a middle-aged man in black wearing a face mask and holding a plaque numbered “135”, who brushed off media questions on leaving.
Hong Kong allows only 23 English letters for plates, excluding “I”, “O” and “Q” under Transport Department rules.
The H plate ranks as the city’s fourth-most-expensive one, trailing the “D” plate’s HK$20.2 million sale in 2024 by just HK$200,000.
The most expensive plate ever sold in the city was “W”, which went for HK$26 million in 2021, at 5,200 times its starting price.
Number-only plates proved popular too, with several drawing fierce bidding.
Plate “30” took the second-highest bid of the day, sold at HK$4.55 million to a male bidder after jumping from a HK$1.88 million reserve to HK$3 million amid a two-way contest.
Plate “101” was also hotly contested, selling for HK$1.01 million from a HK$705,000 reserve. The auctioneer raised increments from HK$5,000 to HK$10,000 once bidding hit HK$750,000.
Amid a two-bidder duel, one pushed “101” to HK$1 million before the other clinched it at HK$1.01 million.
Numbers-only “2288” fetched HK$470,000, which was HK$150,000 higher than its reserve.
Plates containing the number “8” sold at lower prices than their numbers-only counterparts.
The number “8” is considered auspicious in Chinese culture due to its similar pronunciation to “prosperity” in Cantonese.
“GG 8888” rose from a reserve of HK$310,000 to a winning bid of HK$810,000 after increments jumped to HK$10,000 at the HK$420,000 mark.
Plate “HK 8886” sold at HK$96,000 from a reserve of HK$52,000, “HK 8830” sold at its starting price of HK$59,000, while “JZ 8888” had no takers.


Entry hours cut short as large crowds at lantern display spark safety fears

HK Electric to cut fuel charge for first time in 4 months as CLP raises rate

Hong Kong teacher jailed for 3 years for molesting pupil during free tutoring

Hong Kong astronaut Lai Ka-ying sends Mid-Autumn Festival wishes to residents from space

Hong Kong society

‘H’ races to riches: car plate fetches HK$20 million at Hong Kong auction

The auctioneer gestures as the “H” plate goes up for sale at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. Photo: Handout

Record sales at Hong Kong’s autumn jewellery auctions, from Sotheby’s and Christie’s to Phillips

Harry Winston Peacock Brooch. Photo: Christie’s

Earrings by JAR at the upcoming Christie’s auction. Photo: Handout

Jadeite and diamond demi-parure at Sotheby’s. Photo: Handout

Cartier 20.09-carat Burmese unheated sapphire and diamond ring at Phillips’ auction. Photo: Phillips

Hong Kong’s latest art auctions see turnover lingering at 8-year low

Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s incoming Asia-Pacific president, stands at the rostrum during the sale of Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme (1944) on September 26, 2025. The painting, which sold for HK$197 million, set an auction record for a Picasso piece in Asia. Photo: Christie’s

Mattino di primavera (Spring Morning) (2007), by Salvo. Photo: Christie’s

There Was One Summer Returning Over and Over; There Was One Dawn I Grew Old Watching (2023), by Li Hei Di. Photo: Enid Tsui

Buste de femme, by Pablo Picasso (1944). Photo: Christie’s

German painter Walter Spies’ Pagodenlandschaft (1929) was auctioned for HK$26.1m at Christie’s evening sale in Hong Kong on September 26. Photo: Christie’s

Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara’s Can’t Wait ’til the Night Comes (2012) was the top lot in Sotheby’s Hong Kong evening sale on September 28. Photo: Enid Tsui

News

Hong Kong

Society

Transport

Other high bids at Sunday’s Chinese New Year auction include plates ‘30’ at HK$4.55 million, ‘101’ at HK$1.01 million and ‘2288’ at HK$470,000


Other high bids at Sunday’s Chinese New Year auction include plates ‘30’ at HK$4.55 million, ‘101’ at HK$1.01 million and ‘2288’ at HK$470,000.


Auctions

‘H’ races to riches: car plate fetches HK$20 million at Hong Kong auction

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Other high bids at Sunday’s Chinese New Year auction include plates ‘30’ at HK$4.55 million, ‘101’ at HK$1.01 million and ‘2288’ at HK$470,000

Other high bids at Sunday’s Chinese New Year auction include plates ‘30’ at HK$4.55 million, ‘101’ at HK$1.01 million and ‘2288’ at HK$470,000