$2 million license plate
For decades, Claude Arthur Stuart Hamrick helped Silicon Valley make money during the heyday of a tech boom. He was a patent attorney who worked with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, served in the Rotary Club of San Jose, and ran a golf club with local business elite. But around town, Hamrick’s most visible claim to fame was his license plate, emblazoned with the word, “CASH,” which was not only his initials and nickname, but a testament to his flamboyant lifestyle. “Every time I traded cars, the dealers tried to buy it from me. Every auto dealer in San Jose wanted that license plate,” said Hamrick, 83. “I told them I wasn’t going to sell it for a million dollars.” Now, 50 years later, Hamrick has changed his mind. The rights to “CASH,” the license plate he’s had registered under his name since 1970 — the first year California allowed so-called “vanity plates” — are up for sale. The price? Cool $2 million.
Delaware, where wealthy people have a long tradition of putting rare low number plates on their cars. The rights to Delaware’s number 6 license plate were sold in 2008 for $675,000. Texas also conducts online license plate auctions, where the phrase “12THMAN” — referring to adoring student fans of Texas A&M football — sold for $115,000.to sell the rights to custom license plates in California. This is where Michael Modecki comes into play. He’s spent tens of thousands of dollars acquiring the rights to license plates that seem particularly attuned to the 21st-century culture of fast money and fast cars: GO VIRAL, EPICWIN and BETTING are among his collection. He also helps Hamrick promote the “CASH” sign.
How does Modecki justify valuations in the millions? “If I had billions of dollars, would I spend the money on this plate? And the answer is always ‘yes,’” said Modecki. “Because it’s something no one else can have.” “It’s like buying a domain name in 1996. … Do you think the guy who bought “fb.com” knew Facebook was going to be a thing 15 years from now?” As of January, 1,123,008 “Special Interest Plates” have been in California circulation, including signature vanity plates and other plate designs honoring everything from Yosemite to firefighters. The state made $56.8 million from those record sales in 2022. When asked about Modecki’s vanity top sales, the DMV said it was “legal to transfer ownership of most special interest license plates in California.” “There’s someone out there who’s been waiting for something like this,” Staggs said. “I feel it in my bones.”
Licensed Laughter
I just bought the personalized license plate BAA BAA…
For my black jeep…
Fall is the most beautiful time in Florida, really…
All the license plates start changing colors.
Two blondes are looking at an Egyptian mummy.
Blonde 1: Look so many bandages ! Must have been a car accident.
Blonde 2: Yeah ! They have given the license plate number as well, BC 1760.
You know why the Oklahoma license plate has the motto, “It’s OK?”
Because they couldn’t fit “Mediocre.”
February 24th Birthdays
1993 – Emily Rudd, 1956 – Paula Zahn, 1997 – Brittany Raymond, 1965 – Kristin Davis
1955 – Steve Jobs, 1989 – Daniel Kaluuya, 1966 – Billy Zane, 1977 – Floyd Merryweather