Digit envy

My Delaware license plate finally arrived. CL 42211. It’s not a bad plate -- it’s easy to remember, rolls nicely off the tongue, and, most importantly, it’s five digits. I worried for weeks that I’d be issued one of those common six-digit plates. Six digit plates belong on the uninspiring cars of retirees and fat women shopping at Harry and David’s at the Outlet Malls, not on a big manly truck.

You never know what number the Delaware DMV will issue you. I lucked out. If it’d been a six-digit number I’d have to go over to Georgetown and beg for a lower one. Or purchase a low number plate at one of the many auctions around the state. Yes, you heard me right. There's a market for license plates because Delawareans covet low digit plates.

Unlike most states, Delaware’s typical car plate uses only digits. The plate numbers haven’t reached one million yet, because the plates are recycled. There are different designations for different types of vehicles. Trucks receive the CL designation. Farm trucks get a FT designation. Cars get no designation, except that station wagons and SUVs get a PC (passenger car) designation. Tags are transferrable from vehicle to vehicle and can also be sold from Delawarean to Delawarean. This allows for a family to keep a license plate number in their family from generation to generation.

To add to the fever, you have the handsome black and white tags, the original color combination. Some of the really desirable, old low-digit plates are black and white. They were discontinued in the 40’s in favor of the current buff and blue color combination. But, you can purchase replicas of your buff and blue tags in black and white through the Delaware Historical Society.

All of this creates quite a demand. Just last week, a Rehoboth man paid $82,000 at auction for a pair of license plates: 900 and PC900. According to the newspaper story, the man was away in the Bahamas and was willing to go up to $100,000.

My neighbor Tim has a three digit, black and white plate that was passed down to him from his grandparents. Imagine what that baby's worth? In true Delawarean style, he’s encouraging me to attend one of Butch Emmert’s auctions and bid on a 4-digit truck plate. "A low-digit black and white plate would look real hot on your truck," he whispers in my ear." "And, like a diamond, it will keep it's value." He's right. Butch Emmert, a real expert on Delaware license plates, says prices are going up 15-20% per year. Even the 4-digit plates are routinely bringing $3,000 to $12,000 at auction. Downstaters, according to Emmert, prefer C tags, while those from New Castle County like the PC plates.

Who knew license plates could be part of savvy financial planning? I'm still not convinced, but I'm thinking about it. I bet Alfred Dunhill would have a low digit black and white tag.