14 DAY TRIAL // The plate number KR15 HNA was sold for a record £233,000 (about €322,000 / $367,000) at an auction organized by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the UK earlier this week.
The impressive selling price makes this number the most expensive modern plate thus far auctioned off in this country. The previous record was set in 2006, when a car owner paid £100,000 (over €138,000 / $157,000) for the plate number MR51 NGH.
Interestingly, the registration KR15 HAN, similar but not quite the same, also sold for a great deal of money. Long story short, it fetched ₤98,500 (approximately €136,000 / $155,000).
“We had high hopes both for KR15 HAN and KR15 HNA after a lot of interest being registered beforehand,” said Matthew Dainton from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's Personalized Registrations.
Why would anyone pay this much for a number plate?
The letters and the figures that make up the plate number KR15 HNA can be read either individually, in which case there's no fun to it, or as Krishna, with the “1” and the “5” being viewed as “i” and “s,” respectively.
For those unaware, Krishna is regarded as the supreme deity by many traditions of Hinduism. Hence, it should not come as a surprise that the plane number was bought by a businesswoman of Indian heritage.
The businesswoman, understood to live in London, bid for the registration by phone, Mirror tells us. She asked to maintain anonymity, and so her name is and will remain a mystery.
As for the plate number KR15 HAN, there is little doubt that it too sold for quite a lot of cash because, although it doesn't exactly spell Krishna, it still looks a whole lot like the name of the Hindu deity.
The most expensive personalized registration ever auctioned off by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the UK sold in last year's November, when somebody paid ₤518,000 (€717,000 / $816,000) for the number 25 O.
