Your Guide to Heritage Plates

What Are Heritage Number Plates?

Heritage plates have quietly become one of the most prized assets among Australian automotive enthusiasts, linking the country's motoring past with the stealth wealth trends of the modern day. In every state and territory, heritage number plates are considered sound investments and have grown steadily more desirable over the past decade.

Each handmade numerical plate is a faithful reproduction of the first plates ever issued to motor vehicles in the early 1900s. Made using vitreous enamel, with white lettering and numbers set against a black background, heritage plates cannot be modified from their original form. Owning a heritage plate means owning both the physical plate and the right to display that combination on a vehicle, for life.

Victorian Heritage Number Plates

Victoria's first number plates, now known as Heritage plates, were issued between 1932 and 1939. Numerical combinations ranged from 2 to 285.000, and that original number series remains fixed today: no further Victorian heritage plates will ever be issued.

New South Wales Heritage Number Plates

In NSW, the first run of plate registrations ran from 1910 to 1937, with numerical combinations ranging from 1 to 274.000. Also referred to as Numeral Only plates, this finite original series is what underpins their long term value.

Queensland Heritage Number Plates

Queensland heritage plates are preceded by the letter Q and were first issued between 1921 and 1955, with combinations ranging from Q1 to Q687.612.