Vanity plate sold for $14 million in UAE

Yahoo | AP ^ | 2/16/08

[LibWhacker]

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - A license plate with nothing but the number "1" on it went for a record $14 million at a charity auction Saturday.

Saeed Khouri, a member of a wealthy Abu Dhabi family, wouldn't say how many automobiles he owned or which of them might carry the record-breaking single-digit plate.

"I bought it because it's the best number," said Khouri, whose family made its fortune in real estate. "I bought it because I want to be the best in the world."

The oil-rich UAE began auctioning off vanity license plates last May.

Ordinary automobile license plates issued to drivers here — and even most other vanity series plates — carry both Arabic and Western numerals and script, defining the issuing city and country.

Khouri's plate, however, has only the Western numeral and no letters.

The record sale surpassed the $6.8 million that was paid for an Emirati license plate at an earlier auction with the Western number 5 on it — also without Arabic numerals or letters.

Proceeds from the auctions, which are held in a lavish hotel here, go to a rehabilitation center for victims of traffic accidents.

On Saturday, 90 license plates were auctioned off in all, raising a total of $24 million. The previous five such events raised more than $50 million.

[jdm]

I remember seeing this about a year ago.

[Hexenhammer]

guess I can quit complaining about how much I had to pay for vanity plates here in Oregon.

[RedQuill]

"I bought it because I want to be the best in the world."

You're definitely the best, bud.

You should be very proud of your great achievement you camel-humping moron.

[bajabaja]

I believe that “Western numbers” such as “5” and “1” are actually arabic in source, which the article seems to miss completely.

I don’t buy the Arabs invented everything line, but they deserve credit on that one.

[Westlander]

Abdul's Spare Car

[RedQuill]

"My other car is a smelly camel".

[Westlander]

[Lost Dutchman]

I believe they are actually Indian in origin and was passed to the Venician bankers through the Arabs.

[Lost Dutchman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numbers

[Cheesehead In Dubai]

This was in yesterday’s newspapers in the UAE. The charity will need all of the 14 million to rehabilitate victims of the multitude of traffic accidents here.

[bajabaja]

Thanks Lost Dutchman, I was just noting that the article refers to what are normally said to be “Arabic numbers” as “Western Numbers” which was ironic in the context of this article.

That India is the original source doesn’t suprise, and is interesting to know.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Small price to pay for “the loneliest number that you ever knew”.

[Erasmus]

"One is the costliest number that you'll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It's the costliest number since the number one"

[knarf]

I womder which ‘charity’ received billions of dollars, hmmmm?

[Allegra]

I believe that “Western numbers” such as “5” and “1” are actually arabic in source, which the article seems to miss completely.

The Arabic "1" and "9" look very much like ours.

The "5" actually looks sort of like an "O."

The Arabic "4" looks sort of like a backwards "3" and the "6" looks a lot like our "7" so it can be a little confusing when you're first learning Arabic numbers.