Don't Throw Out Old License Plates, They Might Be Worth More Than You Think

There are several things that, no matter what you drive, you're going to need in order to hit the road legally. License plates are one such element, signifying that your vehicle is registered. It also indicates in which state or region your vehicle was verified as street legal in, as evidenced by the name of the area and potentially some local symbolism across it. Though not every state requires license plates on the front as well as the back of your ride, even in rear-only states, they're a common find — even detatched from vehicles themselves.

It's not uncommon to walk into an antique store, gas station, or other business and spot license plates on the wall as decoration. You may even know someone who has used them for art or assembled a collection at home, with plates spanning the U.S. and potentially beyond. Aside from their utility, license plates are collectible and have become increasingly more so in the decades since car and truck travel became the norm. As a result, even a cursory look at the license plate collecting niche can reveal that, like any highly sought-after collector market, there's some serious money wrapped up in it.

With the popularity of license plate collecting, the hobby is quite serious. Thus, if you have some old plates lying around, don't toss them so quickly. With a little research, you may find that they're worth a nice chunk of change.

Car license plate collecting is nothing new, so, naturally, neither is seeing folks spend boatloads of money to get specific ones. Prices can be determined by factors such as age, rarity, material, and other aspects that can make them so coveted to collectors. For example, a 1915 Vermont license plate was once valued at around $15,000. Not only is this an over a century-old plate, but it's a rather unique piece thanks to the then-use of porcelain — one of the first plates to be made of such material. Similarly, a 1906 West Virginia plate, a roughly $25,000 piece, is also a high-end find for its material. Pressed in thin aluminum, they weren't too durable, making them hard to come by all these years after their introduction.

As impressive as these numbers are for basically old pieces of government identification, they pale in comparison to some of the rarest of the rare. One that went for an absurd amount is the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary vanity plate. This one-of-one plate sold for a whopping $1.5 million, with proceeds going to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Dubai is also home to numerous million-dollar plates, with the P7 plate being the priciest of them all. In 2023, it sold to an unspecified bidder at auction for a staggering $15 million. There's also a California license plate valued at $24 million, which is truly remarkable.

While not all license plates are guaranteed moneymakers, it's entirely possible the old ones you might have tucked away somewhere have some value. To find out for sure, a bit of research is required.

If you have some old license plates, and you want to find their value, there's some legwork to go through. Unfortunately, there's no perfectly accurate license plate value database online, so you'll have to do some serious research into your specific plates. The first step is to look around the Internet for sales of similar plates. Websites like eBay and other auction sources tend to keep records of recent sales, so, ideally, you could come up with a ballpark estimate of what you could get for your old plates based on these. Don't forget to take into account aspects like condition, age, and others previously outlined. You might want to give your license plate a good cleaning to make it more attractive to buyers, too.

Alternatively, if eBay and similar online sources don't yield much, you can reach out to the masses. Throughout the Internet, there are various collector communities consisting of those who've been in the license plate collecting game for decades. Places like r/LICENSEPLATES cover all-things license plate related, and are populated by heavy enthusiasts. With any luck, folks in such social spaces should be able to point you in the right direction. Unless you have something seriously rare or sought-after, though, it's best to calibrate your enthusiasm. Most old license plates don't go for too much, so be mindful of that to avoid potential disappointment.

As innocuous as they are, license plates are among the most fascinating widely-collected items out there. Time will tell just how much wilder their values get in the coming decades.