(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - One of the first license plates issued in the country was sold at auction Sunday.
An auction house in Union, Illinois said the plate fetched for $34,000. Mike Donley, an expert with Donley Auctions, had initially expected the number one plate, issued by the city of Chicago in 1904, to sell for $2,000 to $4,000.
“I took it to a license plate show and they said, ‘oh no, it should bring $5,000 to $7,000,’ then other people started saying $10,000. So, it’s one of those things, there was nothing to compare it to. So, who knew what it was going to go for. That’s the beauty of an auction, you get two people who want it, you don’t stop,” Donley said.
He said it doesn’t get any rarer than this plate. The auction house said it’s made out of stamped aluminum – a material that didn’t hold up well, so the city shifted to brass and then the state of Illinois took over two years later. It was part of a set of five plates issued from 1903 to 1907.
The plate was issued to Arthur J Eddy… a founding member of the Chicago Motor Club… by the city before the state took over that responsibility. It was held for decades by Lee Roy Hartung, a scrap dealer, car salesman and prolific collector in Glenview, until his death in 2011.
Donley did not disclose the buyer’s name.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
