AJ 1 – A Plate with an Interesting History

AJ 1 recently sold at auction Wilsons Auctions in Belfast for £243,000. This plate has a truly fascinating history and it seems to still be making its mark on history even after it has been sold.

North Yorkshire’s Oldest Plate

AJ 1 was the first plate to ever be registered in the county of North Yorkshire. It was registered in 1907 to the North Yorkshire Police Force where it had remained ever since until it was recently sold. The first car the plate was displayed on was a single cylinder Argyll owned by Chief Constable Major Sir Robert Bower.

A great way to raise funds

No longer used by the North Yorkshire Police, it made sense to sell the valuable plate and put the money to good use and so the decision was made to send the plate to auction and with such an interesting history and being such an early plate, it came as little surprise that AJ 1 raised a large sum.

Two worthy projects to benefit

The money made from the sale will fund two great projects. One will be to update and maintain a garden at the police headquarters that was built to honour all those emergency service men and women who have lost their lives, and as a tranquil space to remember all those who are no longer with us. The second project is to fund small local road safety initiatives across the county, in areas that perhaps don’t get the attention with regards to road safety that the larger towns and cities do.

AJ 1 never forgotten

When a community or local parish receives funding for their road safety project, in return for the investment, they will be required to display a replica of AJ 1 alongside details about how the group got the funding and the meaning behind AJ 1. It seems that AJ 1 will always be a famous plate, even though it’s now with a new owner. There certainly seems to be something rather special about it!