Cherished number plates
Cherished number plates, mostly dateless and suffix kinds, are older registrations that owners keep and move between their cars. At every seller, we compare the all-in price of the same cherished plate.
Cherished number plates for sale, cheapest first, all-in
The all-in figure covers VAT, the £80 DVLA assignment fee and the plate itself. Nothing shifts in the ranking, which always shows the cheapest first; a purchase made through a link may earn us a fee (commission disclosure).
The lowest prices at the other sellers
Each seller's lowest all-in price.
Dateless cherished plates
Suffix plates, 1963–1983
What makes a plate cherished
In the trade, "cherished" describes registrations valued for their age or how they read, not the number the factory gave the car. Two groups fall under that here: dateless plates, which show no year whatsoever, and suffix plates dated 1963 to 1983, where the year letter sits last.
Buying a cherished registration means buying the right to use the number. A purchase from DVLA brings you a V750 entitlement certificate. Most dealers move the number onto your car themselves, or hand you a V750 or V778 so you can make the change yourself.
Check the age before buying
A number plate cannot make a car seem newer than it really is. Because dateless plates fit any car, they are the easy choice. The last letter of a suffix plate shows its year, so the car must have been first registered in that year or later.
Qualification matters too: the type needs an MOT, tax is paid or a SORN is in place, and the car is not Q registered. Even when they are usually exempt, historic vehicles need a current MOT.
You can also look at dateless number plates and suffix number plates, plus guidance on how to retain a plate when you change car.
Common questions
Why do people have cherished plates?
The main reasons: the plate reads as a name, as initials, or as a word, or it hides how old the car is. You get both benefits from dateless cherished plates, and you can move them to every car you own.
In a private number plate, what does 7 stand for?
It often takes the place of a letter, such as T, which makes the plate read as a word. You must still display a 7, using the standard font and standard spacing. If you misrepresent a registration, the result can be a penalty of up to £1,000.
Is any car allowed to carry a cherished plate?
Yes, a dateless plate works, provided the car qualifies. A suffix plate fits only a car from that year or newer, based on its last letter.
How much do cherished number plates cost?
Some suffix plates go for a few hundred pounds, while short dateless ones reach far higher prices. The grid above gives live all-in prices for every seller, cheapest first.