CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A collector is calling the nearly $14,000 an antique state license plate fetched at auction astonishing.

Number 39, the second-oldest and second-lowest-numbered state plate known, was auctioned Nov. 6 in Maine.

“I think I went into a mild state of shock when the price got up to $2,500,” said Alan Matthews, a collector who owns more than 25,000 plates and attended the sale.

Auction officials said a descendent of former Laconia resident Stephen S. Jewett put it up for auction. Corbin Moister of Brattleboro, Vt., put in the winning bid.

The square plate measures about 5 inches on each side and was issued in 1905.

The lowest-numbered plate known is number 24, also issued in1905. It sold for $1,100 several years ago.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – Asbestos and more than 800 tons of oil-contaminated dirt need to be removed from a Manchester site before work to open a museum there can begin in earnest.

The area will be the new home for the Sargent Museum of archaeology and anthropology.

The project is due to end next year.

Museum officials also are trying to raise $150,000 by Dec. 31. The money would be used to buy several hundred artifacts from a private collection.

They museum’s current stock includes about 10,000 artifacts. Most are in storage until the new facility opens.

MERRIMACK, N.H. (AP) – A developer plans to pitch a project Tuesday that would put factory-outlet stores on a 170-acre tract in Merrimack.

The property owner, Thomas Monahan of Nashua, said he hopes Merrimack’s planning board will consider revising the land’s industrial zoning to permit commercial uses. But this year marks his third attempt to secure the change. Neighbors along his property have so far successfully fought it.

The proposal would allow up to 130 stores. Officials said none would be so-called big-box retailers.

DERRY, N.H. (AP) – Police have charged a Derry man with second-degree assault after the weekend shooting of a teenage girl.

Police say 24-year-old Randall Morse shot a 17-year-old girl with a .35-caliber gun at a home in Derry on Saturday.

She was taken to Parkland Medical Center and underwent surgery early Sunday morning. She was listed in stable condition.

Authorities didn’t release the girl’s name or the nature of her injury. They also didn’t detail why they thought Morse shot her.

His bail was set at $10,000.