South Australians will have the opportunity to bid on 80 numeric number plates in the first auction of its kind in six years.

The exclusive number plates – featuring highly sought-after four, five and six-digit numbers – were originally assigned to South Australian vehicles between 1906 and 1966.

They were gradually phased out and replaced with the general-issue plates in use today.

The online auction opened to the on Saturday and will close at 7pm on Tuesday, April 11.

The plates already announced are 1558, 7373, 8848, 9001, 9899, 9991, 22-228, 33-788, 88-383 and 118-811.

All the newly allocated numeric number plates will be auctioned with ‘class-specific’ rights, allowing them to be displayed on a registered vehicle, transferred to another vehicle under the same owner’s name, or have the rights transferred to another individual owner through a private sale or gift.

Independent auctioneer Stewart Kay from Historic Plates has been appointed to oversee the online auction.

Interested bidders – who must be a permanent South Australian resident to participate – can visit www.historicplates.com.au to pre-register online.

Bids can be placed via a downloadable app using either a PC, tablet or smartphone.

Revenue raised from the auction will be returned to the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to fund services for South Australians.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Tom Koutsantonis said numeric number plates were no longer in general circulation, which made them a collector’s item with some plates highly sought after.

“This will be the state’s first plate auction in about six years, and we expect the competition to own a slice of SA’s motoring history will be intense,” Minister Koutsantonis said.

“Some numbers being made available are nearly 120 years old so there is plenty of history attached to them.”