August 2026 Number Plate Auctions: What’s Coming Up | The Plate Ledger

The Plate Ledger usually looks backward, reporting what sold. This week we're looking forward. Two significant auctions are lining up for August, and between them they carry one of the strongest runs of low-number Victorian heritage plates we've previewed — alongside a spread of signature and custom combinations worth watching.

A note before we start: unlike our weekly recaps, there are no prices here yet. Nothing has sold. Bidding hasn't opened. This is a guide to what's coming and where the interest is likely to land — so you know what to watch before the hammer falls.

 

First, what "heritage" actually means

Because it matters for reading this catalogue correctly, it's worth being precise about the term.

A Victorian heritage plate is one specific thing: an original numeric-only plate from the series first issued between 1910 and 1939, running from 1 to 285,000, presented in white characters on a black background. That series was frozen — the combinations can never be reissued, withdrawn or redesigned — which is exactly what makes them collectible. Three, four and five-digit heritage plates are sold only through public auction via VicRoads' approved partners.

That's a different category to a signature or custom plate, which are modern personalised styles you can order and configure. Both can look superficially similar — black plate, white characters — but only the numeric originals are heritage in the true sense. We flag this because the two sales below mix the categories, and knowing which is which tells you what you're actually bidding on.

 

Heritage Only — Tuesday 18 August, 7:30pm

This is the one for purists. Ten lots, all Victorian numeric heritage plates, going under the hammer in a live ballroom auction. Every lot here is the real thing: original 1930s-series numeric combinations.

The full running order:

 

The two three-digit plates — '620' and '825' — are the headline scarcity here. Three-digit heritage plates are the rarest length that comes to public auction, and VicRoads' own figures show just how far this end of the market has run: the average three-digit heritage price rose from around $135,000 in 2020 to roughly $375,000 by the end of 2023. Whether these two follow that curve is the question of the night.

Watch the pattern plates too. '66·606', '44·440' and '88·988' all carry the repeating and mirrored structures that consistently pull premiums over plainer combinations of the same length — a pattern the Ledger has documented sale after sale.

 

Collecting Cars — August (date to be confirmed)

The second sale is broader, spanning multiple states and mixing true heritage plates with signature and custom styles. It's split across two catalogues.

Heritage Number Plates: Part XIV — the genuine numeric heritage lots, spanning five states and territories:

 

The Victorian lots lead for the home crowd — '121·421', '55·252' and '40·404' are all patterned six-digit numeric heritage plates, the mirrored and repeating structures that consistently draw a premium. For Victorian collectors these are the ones to watch closely.

Interstate, the Tasmanian three-digit plates '882' and '197' are the scarcity story — three digits is the rarest length that reaches public auction. The two fully-patterned TAS fives, '81818' and '18181', are eye-catching alternating combinations that tend to outperform their length, and the NSW '8338' brings a clean mirrored four-digit to the board. The ACT low-number fours ('1785', '1758') round out a genuinely national heritage offering.

Number Plates: Part III — the personalised and custom lots (not heritage in the VicRoads sense, but sought-after styles in their own right):

The short combinations lead interest here. 'FF' (QLD) and the single-and-double character Victorian customs like 'GGG-0' and 'J88J' are the kind of tight, memorable combinations that have been trading strongly — our recent recaps have seen two-character signatures clear tens of thousands. The numeric-style trio ('955-595', '825-000', '717-177') carry the palindrome and repeating patterns that lift a plain six-digit combination above the pack.

What we'll be watching

Two themes carry across both sales:

Scarcity by length. Every three-digit plate on offer — '620', '825', '882', '197' — sits in the rarest bracket that reaches public auction. These are the lots most likely to surprise.

Pattern over plainness. Repeating, mirrored and palindromic combinations — '66·606', '44·440', '121·421', '55·252', '40·404', '8338', '81818', '18181', '955-595' — consistently outperform ordinary combinations of the same length. If you're valuing any of these, don't anchor to digit count alone.

A genuinely national board. Between the two sales, true heritage plates are on offer from VIC, NSW, QLD, ACT and TAS — a broad spread that lets you compare how each state's market is pricing scarcity and pattern side by side.

We'll report the results in full once both sales close, with all-in pricing including buyer's premium as always. Until then, if you're planning to bid, do your homework on the combination — and if you win, remember that a plate from the 1930s original series deserves mounting that treats it as the asset it is.

Browse our Victorian heritage plate mounts — precision-cut in Melbourne, sized to each heritage format and fitted using your car's existing factory mounting points. New to the categories? Start with our complete guide to Victorian plate formats and sizes.

The Plate Ledger is FLX's record of Australian number plate auction results and market activity. Auction dates and lots are subject to change by the auction houses; confirm details directly before bidding. Heritage plate classification per VicRoads.