I wanted to know how rare a plate really is so I dug around and came up with a formula using the BFS vehicle counts: Odds = plates in the canton ÷ number × pattern factor Zurich has 832’110 plates. ZH 25: plain number, pattern factor 1. 832’110 ÷ 25 = 1 in 33’284. Sold for CHF 126’000 in June 2025. ZH 11: repeating digits. Only 9 of the 90 two-digit numbers repeat (11, 22 … 99), so the factor is 10. 832’110 ÷ 11 × 10 = 1 in 756’464. Sold for CHF 262’000 in December 2025. That puts ZH 11 almost level with ZH 1 (rarest plate in the canton). So ZH 11 is 23 times rarer than ZH 25. A lower number, and the repeating digits make it 10 times rarer on top. At ZH 25’s price, it should have gone for about CHF 2.9 million. Obviously nobody prices plates like this. I just found it funny. Worth noting: ZH 25 sold in 2025, and the year match probably helped its price. ZH 24 did the same in 2024 and went for CHF 299’000. On that base, ZH 11 would have been worth about CHF 6.5 million. What do you think? Anything I missed? And what’s the rarest plate you’ve spotted? submitted by /u/rulerofkimistan
Originally posted by u/rulerofkimistan on r/Switzerland