Thursday, June 26, 2014

I'm going to start a handful of posts talking (bragging) about my favorite picks and finds. The reason this hobby is so addictive is because of the stories you come away with. There's no reason to keep them to myself. 
So here we go... the RSG BEST PICKS EVER!





I had searched and searched for info on a vintage Yukon Territory license plate that I picked. The plate was issued in 1932. I bought the plate on the knowledge that an old plate from Alaska TY (1903 or 06 or something) once sold for thousands. This plate was issued years later, but was worth rolling the dice. How many cars could there possibly be driving around up there in '32? Must be fairly rare, right?

Well I finally found an expert to chime in on what the value may be. Here is what he had to say after viewing the photos I sent him...

"Very nice.... actually, with 1930's vintage Yukon plates (plates in YT go back to 1924, and earlier hand made plates also exist back to 1913), the condition vs value is a little unusual.   Due to the tiny amount of cars, few plates were needed - plates were made by the same company that made Oregon plates... for whatever reason, although 100 to 150 plates were needed each year, more than enough were manufactured, so for many of the years in the 30s, a lot of leftovers were known to sit around the registration office in Whitehorse.

The unused overruns (or new-old stock, if you will) were mailed to collectors who asked for them, probably through the 1960s, or were scarfed up by friends of workers at the registration office.  For the most part, these are the plates you see in collections today.

The unusual thing about your plate, is that it's clearly one of the plates that was issued and used - most plates for each year from the 1930s were mint issues that worked they're way into collections.  Finding a rougher, used example, is tough.  Your plate grades at around gvg (good to very good)"

Not really knowing what I was buying, I spent $25 on the plate. It sold on eBay after a heated bidding war for over $470!!! One of my BEST PICKS EVER!

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