In reply to:

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the days of silly cherished number prices are long gone

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Except in Northern Ireland, but then we're years behind the rest of the world anyway
The local TV news carried a story last week about the registration number 'WIL 1' which sold at auction for £40,000. By the time all the auctioneer's charges, tax and whatever were added, the total cost for the number was £52,000! They sold a second-hand Ferrari for a couple of grand less than that!
That would practically pay off my mortgage!