The first car license plate ever issued in Edinburgh, Scotland, has garnered more than $700,000 at auction.

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The license plate "S1" was originally bought in 1903, the year registration numbers were introduced. It first owned by Sir John H A MacDonald, one of Scotland's first car owners, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

Josephine Olley of the auction service Bonhams said there was spirited bidding over the plate.

"There was a bidding battle between several people on the telephone and a bidder in the room. The bidder who was present eventually secured the lot to a round of applause," she was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

MacDonald was a founding member of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland. He also was the first president of the Scottish Automobile Club, founded in 1899.

The historic plate, which had not been offered for sale since 1903, was expected to fetch about half of what it did, the newspaper reported.