A black-and-white number plate with the single digit “4” has sold at a Sydney auction for a record-breaking near US$2 million, reportedly to a Chinese sex toy entrepreneur.
The sale shattered pre-sale estimates of up to A$1.5 million, with the auction hammer coming down at Aus$2.45 million – more than twice the average cost of a Sydney home.
“Just nine of these New South Wales number plates were ever issued, making them ultra-collectible and irreplaceable,” said Shannons auction manager Christophe Boribon.
The auction house refused to reveal who the buyer was, but the Sydney Morning Herald said it was Chinese-Australian billionaire Peter Tseng, who made his fortune in sex toys.
It said he arrived at the Sydney auction on Monday evening in his red Ferrari bearing a No.2 licence plate.
He also reportedly owns a Hong Kong-registered No 1 plate and a personalised number plate “ONE” registered to his 1969 Mercedes in Sydney.
