(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — One of the earliest surviving examples of a Chicago-issued license plate, billed as the “holy grail” of such automotive artifacts, is on the auction block.
The stamped-aluminum plate from 1904, owned by late collector Lee Hartung of Glenview, bears the telltale number “1” and was awarded well over a century ago to prominent lawyer and auto enthusiast Arthur J. Eddy.
Chicago began issuing license plates in 1903 in the early days of automobiles. The city ceased making them when Illinois government took over the task in 1907.
“This is the holy grail of the Chicago plates,” Donley Auction Services says in an online description. “Very few of these plate survive today. And this is Number 1. Doesn't get any rarer than that!”
The timed auction of the license plate, which could fetch upwards of $4,000, is Sunday in northwest suburban Union, Illinois. Several more Chicago-centric auto items owned by collector Hartung are also up for sale.
The plate’s original owner, Eddy, was a founding member of the organization that would become AAA Motor Club. He also helped organize the Chicago Auto Show in 1901.
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