Rare number plate with just three characters could sell for £80,000 – does yours have a hidden value?
A RARE number plate which has just three characters is expected to fetch more than £80,000 when it goes to auction.
And it's one of an exclusive group of short registrations that are proving very popular among collectors.
The "J19" plate is registered to Jersey in the Channel Islands, and is one of just a handful of single letter, double number registrations in the region.
It's currently attached to a Taiwanese Sym Mio 50cc scooter, but auctioneers have said the moped is practically worthless.
Shorter registrations are incredibly popular in the private number plate business across the UK.
In some cases, those with single letters can fetch as much as £600,000.
Example number plates and their values
New style registrations £150-£4,999: e.g. NA51 USA - £350
Triple letter combinations with suffix year letters £199-£6,999: e.g. SUE 694R - £1,599
Triple letter combinations with prefix year letters £199-£6,599: e.g. G4 ABC - £1,099
Triple letter suffix combinations without year letters £499-£60,000: e.g. 4 JGM - £6,999
Triple letter prefix combinations without year letters £699-£75,000: e.g. BPS 2 - £8,599
Double letter suffix combinations £699-£150,000: e.g. 6 WO - £30,999
Double letter prefix combinations £799-£200,000: e.g. VN 442 - £2,199
Single letter suffix combinations £1,599-£500,000: e.g. 4763 C - £3,999
Single letter suffix combinations £1,799-£600,000: e.g. A 247 - £15,599
The plate is being sold off by Simon Drieu and Co auctioneers in Jersey today.
According to the auctioneers, "J19" has already received a large amount of attention from potential buyers.
Simon Drieu said: "All Jersey vehicles are prefixed with a J or a JSY. That's why it's J19. There are no other letters in Jersey plates either, the rest of the registration is just digits.
"Plates like this one are very sought after, because the fewer numbers in the registration mark, the more prestigious it is.
"If it's a lower number, there's more significance - its seen as even more prestigious. Most of our numbers are around six digits.
"A two-digit one (like J19) is extremely desirable, and a one digit registration is almost impossible to get hold of.
"Last year, we had J27 - that went for £73,000. J19 is the third two digit number plate I've had in my 25 years as an auctioneer.
"We have had a lot of interest - we're expecting £80,000 plus."
Single letter plates are rare in the UK, and can attract massive valuations when they go to auction.
So if you own a shorter registration, you could be sitting on a number plate gold mine and not even know it.
Earlier this year we revealed how you can test the value of your reg using this handy guide.