Private number plates are becoming more and more popular amongst motorists from all demographic groups. They are no longer only bought by the rich and famous. With prices now starting at less than £100 per private number license plate, there is something for just about everyone.
Due to regulations governing the display of motor vehicle registration marks in the United Kingdom, whatever is shown on a personalised private number license plate has to be conveyed by the creative selection of the legal number and letter combinations that resemble it most closely.
As a general rule of thumb, the more expensive the private number license plate, the clearer the message it can convey. For example, someone named Boyd could find a number of options available to him when it came to depicting his moniker on a personalized private number plate. Boyd could settle for 13 OYD where the 13 represents the letter B – a pretty good registration by any standards, and a bargain at just £12,495. However, having purchased in haste, Boyd might repent at leisure and wish he had waited until he had saved up for 8 OYD, where the single digit 8 makes a much neater B than the 1 and 3 pair in the cheaper registration. If he opted for this private number license plate the price would be only £29,995.
Anyway, no doubt you grasp the principle: numeric digits, either singly or in pairs, can represent letters.
While there are no hard and fast rules (what works visually in one context may not do so in another), the beginnings of a convention have emerged over the years. Now http://www.regtransfers.co.uk, the UK’s leading supplier of private number plates, has compiled a concise “Plate Speak” glossary which appears below in a table showing which numbers are most often used to represent certain letters.
0 (zero) = D
1 = I or L
2 = R or Z
3 = B or E
4 = A
5 = S
6 = G or B
7 = T or Y
8 = B or occasionally A!
9 = G
11 = U, N or H
12 = R
13 = B
1V = N
VV = W
V = U
0(zero), 6, 8 or 9 = O
The list above is just a starting point – the most commonly used combinations – but it should be enough to shed light on a few of those private number plates you’ve seen where it was obvious that the owner had something to say, but a little less clear precisely what it was.
Find out more at www.Regtransfers.co.uk.