A Lebanese property developer living in England has paid 352,411 pounds (US$509,768) for license plate number “1D”, a new record in the world of collectible British license plates.

At an auction held by the DVLA, the agency which regulates British vehicle registration, the highly-coveted plate sold for a total of 285,000 pounds, but fees and taxes added nearly 70,000 pounds to the winning bid.

The winning bidder bought the plate as a birthday present for his wife and will affix it to her Bentley. After taxes and fees, it ranks as the second most expensive plate sold after “F 1” went for 440,625 pounds last year.

Car registration plates are big business in the UK, where specific plate numbers can be lost forever if they aren’t transferred to a new car or if the owner does not apply to keep them, making older plates rare and extremely valuable.