Pure Gold: 'AU 1' Registration Plate, Which Showed Up in James Bond Movie, Is for Sale

In the James Bond movie starring Sean Connery, the first actor to play the part of the famous spy, the number plate belonged to Auric Goldfinger's Rolls-Royce Phantom III, which featured a black-and-gold paint scheme.

The so-coveted 'AU 1' number plate is now for sale by Primo Registrations, which currently has over 60 million registration plates available to purchase. Pre-auction estimates claim it should sell for over 300,000 pounds, which translates into $375,932 at the current exchange rates.

The VAT and transfer fee will be included in the price. The transfer fee is usually paid for removing a plate from a car and mounting it on another one, a move that is carried out for £80.00 ($100) that must be paid to the Department of Transport.

The seller also handles the complete legal aspect of the transfer and the documentation. The photos provided by Primo Registration show the plate on a 2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom. So maybe the number ends up with another Rolls-Royce after all as it did the very first time, back in the 1960s.

The current record for a plate sold in the UK is 518,000 pounds ($649,108) sold back in November 2014. It was '25 O,' and it was purchased by classic Ferrari dealer and collector John Collins, who placed it on a 1960s Ferrari 250 GTO. It sounds like it was made for it. The same person also purchased the numbers 250 L and 500 FER at the same auction.

"AU 1" is a number made of gold

The exclusive and personalized plate is not just a Hollywood classic memorabilia, but it is also a reference to gold, with the 'AU' lettering being the elemental symbol for the precious metal on the periodic table. Those letters were just right for a car used by Goldinger and Oddjob in the famous spy movie to smuggle gold out of the country. There is no 'odd job' in this transaction right here, though.

The last Time “AU 1” sold, it realized a huge return on investment for its then-owner, says Peter Johnson, managing director of Primo Registrations. Now, those letters would be appropriate for a Russia-made AURUS model.

The Eastern European carmaker currently builds the Arsenal passenger van, the full-size luxury sedan Aurus Senat, the Senat convertible and, the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state limousine.

There is no age limitation on the car that can receive the James Bond-themed plate, so it can go on any car, new or classic. If the owner can afford it, that is. The two-letter, single-digit plates tend to sell for anywhere between 100,000 and 500,000 pounds (between $124,253 and $626263).