According to a report, last year, UK’s Licensing Agency and drivers raise around £ 67m by selling their personalised number plates. But do we know the reason why people prefer personalised number plates? Personalised plates are usually used in the television series and films to hint that a particular user is either an egomaniac or a braggart. However, currently, not only the rich and the famous are buying tailored number plates but despite the economic downturn, they are still doing pretty good as a business. For thousands of drivers who actually have tailored number plates, they are registered as a statement of investment or individuality.
There are different types of languages to look at a number plate:
The use of Roman numerals while designing number plate:
Roman numerals are numeral system of ancient Rome. These numerals are based on letters of the alphabet which are combined to get the sums of their value. For car registration, Roman numerals that are used are mainly V, X, L. M.V is the Roman symbol for 5, X means 10, L means 50 and M is 1,000. However, the numeral that cannot be used as a language of plate is I meaning 1 due to their visual similarity and meaning.

Substituting digit combination and letter:
The primary reason for substituting numbers and letters when designing private number plates is to make the brain see the unique combinations of recognisable symbols. This is done typically because a person goes concisely blind up to 200 times a minute, each time the eyes travel while looking at different objects around, the mind blends the images and they look continuous. This is how the language of number plate was born and the process of substituting letter or digital combination works.
Following is a list of few replacements in plate design:
- A 4
- B 8 or 13
- D 0
- E 3
- G 6
- H 11
- I 1
- L 1 or I
- N 1V
- O 0
- Q 0 or O
- R 12
- S 5
- T 7
- U V
- V U
- W VV
- Y 7
- 0 D or O
- 1 I or L
- 3 E
- 4 A
- 5 S
- 6 C or G or B
- 7 T or Y
- 8 A or B
- 9 G
The only difficulty in creating a number plate language is following the rules on letter combination and spacing with year.
Take a look at some of the categories of plates and various level of humor associated with it:
Vanity plates:
The concept of vanity plates initiated with the concept as ‘MY BMW’ or ‘HER CAR’.
Birth year or favourite numbers:
Favourite numbers or birth year are relatively in conspicuous and is a standard for many families. The confusion can be when 5 do not actually look like an S or 3 as E.
Source of success:
These plates show the brand name or nature of the product that actually afforded the luxury car. It is a good way to put up the marketing strategy.
The popularity of the private number plates has risen in recent years. An increasing number of people now want their vehicle to stand out of the crowd. So people from all walks of life can now make their number plates customised and enjoy it. The main reason why people prefer personalised number plates are
- To add their name initials to the number plate
- To add their business name to their number plate
- To hide the age of their vehicle.
It is not difficult to get a new registration these days. There are different number plate search facilities where you can search your name, initials, car make or your pet name. Private number plates are either hold on a Retention certificate or on Donor vehicle. So if you purchase a personalised number plate held on a donor vehicle it is important that you supply vehicle documents for transfer. On the other hand, if number plate is held on Retention certificate there is no need to supply vehicle documents immediately as that can be kept on hold until you receive your new vehicle.
With personalised number plate people can express their personality easily at no cost.
Author Bio
Thomas Bailey is associated with vehicle registration agencies that deal with number plates especially private number plates. Bailey loves collecting legacy car number plates as it is one of his favourite hobbies and he takes pride of it. You can also find Thomas Bailey’s blog posts on various blogs and article directories.
Thomas Bailey suggests his readers to follow http://www.premierplates.co.uk/ for additional information related to vehicle number plates.