California vanity plate coveted by college football lovers could fetch millions: ‘Diehard fans would give anything’

Forget a signed jersey or championship ring, one of the most coveted pieces of USC memorabilia may be sitting on the back of a fishing truck.

A California license plate reading simply “USC” is being offered for sale, and its owners believe the ultra-rare plate could command $675,000 or more, potentially making it one of the most expensive license plates ever sold in the United States.

The plate is set to be featured on USC’s official social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, on Aug. 31, according to Mark Magdaleno, who is helping market the plate.

The sellers say they are aiming for a record-setting sale and will also consider the best offer.

“Diehard USC fans would give anything to have that plate on their vehicle,” former owner Mike Stone told the Daily Trojan.

If that happens, it would shatter records. One of the priciest USC pieces of memorabilia to ever be sold is Charles White’s Heisman Trophy, which went for nearly $300,000 in December 2006, per ESPN.

However, the story behind this three-letter plate is almost as intriguing as its potential price tag.

The plate dates back to 1970, when California first began allowing motorists to create personalized license plates. James Stone Sr. chose “USC” to celebrate his family’s longtime connection to the University of Southern California, per the Daily Trojan.

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The plate remained with the Stone family for more than five decades before Stone eventually sold it to longtime friend Jeff Grotewold.

Grotewold, 63, had coveted the plate for years. Once he finally got his hands on it, he slapped it on his 1992 Chevrolet Suburban, which he uses as his fishing truck.

Then he decided the little piece of California history might be worth a whole lot more than a fishing trip.

“I was in no hurry [to sell],” Grotewold told the outlet. “I put it on my ’92 Suburban, which is my fishing truck. Philanthropy is great, but, in the end, I’m a businessman that has to pay bills, and so I looked at it as a business investment.”

Enter Magdaleno, and an unlikely reunion decades in the making.

Grotewold and Magdaleno played baseball together at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead. Grotewold was not only a teammate but a mentor and friend.

After graduation, however, their lives went in dramatically different directions.

Grotewold went on to play Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies before building a successful career as a contractor. Magdaleno struggled with addiction and homelessness, eventually spending time in prison. Afterward, he became an inmate firefighter, fighting blazes from Oregon to the Mexican border.

A career-ending spinal injury that he suffered while battling fires left Magdaleno permanently disabled.

The old friends eventually reconnected through Facebook. When Grotewold learned Magdaleno had telemarketing experience and was trying to find a way to afford a vehicle equipped with adaptive controls, he offered him a shot at helping sell the USC plate and promised to share part of the proceeds.

“To me, this is redemption,” Magdaleno told the Daily Trojan. “It’s a second chance for me.”

License plate collector and broker Michael Modecki believes the plate could be the “Holy Grail” of USC memorabilia.

California’s secondary market for vanity plates is still relatively young. A DMV policy change in 2015 allowed owners to transfer certain personalized plates directly to another person instead of surrendering them to the state, creating an entirely new collectibles market.

Modecki said there is no established ceiling for a plate like “USC.”

“I think this plate could do it,” he told the outlet, referring to the possibility of a multimillion-dollar record.

But for Grotewold and Magdaleno, the money is only part of the story.

“What makes this story special isn’t the plate’s potential value,” Magdaleno wrote in a Facebook post. “It’s the friendship behind it. And one man refusing to leave another behind.”

Grotewold said he would also be willing to donate part of the proceeds back to USC, potentially keeping the rare plate within the Trojan family.

The sellers are accepting best offers and can be reached at magdalenomark@gmail.com.