UK Number Plate Research
Research UK registrations using our historical records, sales data, vehicle assignments, archived adverts and specialist guides. Search a specific registration or explore how British number plates have been issued, sold and used from 1903 to the present day.
Search a Registration
Enter a UK registration to view its known history, including recorded auction sales, asking prices, historic adverts, vehicle assignments, photographs and other documented appearances.
Explore UK Number Plates
British registrations have used several different formats since the first motor registrations were issued in 1903. Explore each system, identify the age of a registration and understand how UK number plates are constructed.
Number Plate Formats
Dateless Number Plates
Learn about Britain's oldest style of registrations, including two-character, three-character and other dateless combinations that do not reveal the vehicle's age.
Explore dateless platesSuffix Number Plates
Explore suffix registrations issued from 1963 to 1983 and see how the final letter identifies the registration year.
Explore suffix platesPrefix Number Plates
Understand prefix registrations used between 1983 and 2001, where the first letter identifies the vehicle's original registration year.
Explore prefix platesCurrent Style Number Plates
Understand the current UK registration system introduced in 2001, including local memory tags and six-month age identifiers.
Explore current platesNorthern Irish Number Plates
Explore Irish & Northern Irish registrations, including county and city identifiers, dateless formats and registrations transferred to vehicles across Great Britain.
Coming soonDiplomatic Plates
Understand diplomatic plates with their special formats and how standard number plate rules can sometimes be broken for them.
Explore diplomatic platesThe History of UK Number Plates
Vehicle registration marks have been issued in Britain since 1903. Explore how registration systems changed from early local-authority marks through suffix, prefix and today's current-style system.
- 1903The first registration, DY 1, is issued
- 1932Three-letter registrations increasingly used
- 1963Suffix system
- 1983Prefix system
- 2001Current system
- TodayRegistrations bought, sold and researched
Historic Number Plate Archive
Search historic advertisements and registration records collected from original magazines, newspapers, dealer catalogues, auction material and archived online listings.
Search the Historic ArchiveSpecialist Plates
Trade Plates
How trade plates are used by motor traders, and what the red-on-white marks mean.
Coming soonMilitary Registrations
The separate registration systems used by British military vehicles.
Coming soonOriginal Research & Data
Our research combines historical documents, auction results and registration records to examine the UK private registration market.
Britain's Most Expensive Number Plates
Annual rankings of major UK registration sales, based on documented transaction data.
View the rankingsThe First DVLA Personalised Registration Auction
Original results and records from the first DVLA personalised registration auction in 1989.
View the 1989 resultsZero Number Plates
Research into registrations containing significant zero combinations.
Explore zero platesNumber Plate Research FAQs
Can I find the owner of a number plate?
No. NumberPlates.org does not have access to private DVLA registered-keeper records, and we cannot tell you who owns a registration. Where an association between a registration and a person or business has been publicly documented — for example in a magazine advertisement, auction catalogue or news report — that record may appear on the registration's Timeline.
Can I see what cars a number plate has been on?
Yes, where vehicle assignments have been documented. Each registration Timeline lists the vehicles we have recorded it on, with makes, models, colours and dates where known.
Can I find out how much a number plate sold for?
Yes. Our Sales Explorer and individual Timelines show known documented sales, including DVLA auctions and private sales we have been able to verify.
What is the difference between hammer price and total price?
The hammer price is the winning bid at auction. The total price is what the buyer actually pays, adding the buyer's premium, DVLA assignment fee and VAT where applicable.
Can I see old adverts for a number plate?
Yes, where the registration appears in our Historic Number Plate Archive, which collects original magazine, newspaper, catalogue and online advertisements.
How can I find the year of a number plate?
Use our guide to Number Plate Years to work out when a registration was originally issued.
Can I search DVLA auction results?
Yes. Our DVLA auction results cover documented DVLA personalised registration sales from the first auction in 1989 onwards.
How accurate are registration histories?
Our Timelines record the known documented history of a registration, not necessarily every event that has ever occurred. Records are added as evidence is found, so a Timeline may be incomplete and will often grow over time.