It has been dubbed the "unicorn" of Australian number plates and will break national records when the ultra-rare black-and-white plate NSW 1 goes under the hammer for the first time in 110 years.
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Number plate aficionado and director of Allbids auction house in Canberra Ben Hastings said he was "massively envious" Sydney rivals Lloyds had secured the rights to auction such an extraordinary part of Australia's motoring heritage.
Online bids have already surpassed $10 million mark five weeks out from the auction date.
In 2017 the NSW single digit plate number '4' sold at auction for a record $2.45 million.
"I wouldn't be at all surprised if the winning bid for this plate doesn't top $20 million," Mr Hastings said.
"And the auction house is set to make a very good quid on it already because they've put a 7.5 per cent buyers' premium on it, which means even at the current $10 million bid, they [Lloyds] are set to pocket at least $750,000."
South of the border, the rival VIC 1 plate is reportedly owned by millionaire businessman, car nut and former Coles-Myer chairman Peter Bartels. VIC 2 is owned by the Smorgon family, while transport magnate Lindsay Fox reportedly also has several single-digit plates.
Mr Hastings said the story behind the plate always adds to its value, and NSW 1 had a sought-after historical narrative.
The plate was issued first to a vehicle of NSW police commissioner in 1910 and around 20 years later was passed on to the founding chairman of Australian National Airways, the late Sir Frederick Harold Stewart.
It had been held in the Stewart family until around 2000 when it then went to a undisclosed collector, who has held it ever since.
That collector, says auctioneer Lloyds, has chosen to remain anonymous.
"It is, without doubt, one of the most desirable plates ever offered in Australia," Mr Hastings said.
"People have been chasing this plate for generations.
"I understand the first car it was associated with was a Daimler Double Six back in the late 1930s, then it ended up on a black Ford Fairlane and there were photos going around of it on that black Fairlane.
"Then I believe the plate then appeared on a Daimler Double Six again at the Pebble Beach auction in California on a car displayed there about 14 years ago."
Heritage plates are seen as an astute investment because they can't be replicated nor re-issued, they have been continually rising in value and require no careful upkeep, unlike historic cars.
For those in the know, a heritage plate also adds a certain prestige to a car which carries one.
The record price for an ACT plate at auction was $147,200 last December for the blue and white single-letter "X".
The world record price paid for a number plate was a UAE plate number '1', which sold for A$20.5 million.
The auction for NSW 1 will be held over the 2024 Australia Day long weekend.
