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Supporting the hobby, conducting research, preserving & promoting the history of Pennsylvania License Plates
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Weekly Posts
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Here is the latest batch of plate types to be spotted on the new "Let Freedom Ring" base: A Haven and Honoring Our Veterans (personalized). Thanks to John Clark and Bill Young for the pictures, keep them coming!
Next up we have a few "first-of" shots of personalized plates: one from James Ruppert for the Lebanon Valley College type and one from Bruce Bufalini for the Person with Disability type. We greatly appreciate the continued submissions to this site!
Chris Van Zandt sends in this nice shot of a West Point Alumni plate. This number was originally issued on the blue base and was reprinted on the WWW base. This type is very difficult to spot in the wild, always good to see one!
1954 Motor Boat License plates came in two formats: no painted border (left, from eBay) and a white painted border (right, from John Willard). The plate on the left is a new high for Format 1. Be sure to click the link to see more!
Lastly we have this new high for the Official Use - State Police plate type, spotted in Delaware of all places! There is a motorcycle-sized version of this plate type as well but none have been spotted yet. Be sure to visit the "List of All Plates & Current Highs" page for a list of all current plates and their highs.
Here is the latest batch of plate types to be spotted on the new "Let Freedom Ring" base: University of Notre Dame (personalized) and Autism Society of America. Thanks to Ben Vaughn and Richard Than for the pictures, keep them coming!
Passenger plates have crossed into "NHx", thanks to Aaron Shirk for the great picture!
Here is a related pair of "first-of" shots of the PA Society Sons of American Revolution and PA State Society Daughters of the American Revolution from Zach Parr and Jerry McCoy. On the "Sons" plate, it's the first plate (numbered or personalized) on the map outline format; on the "Daughters" plate it's the first numbered plate from this type we've seen without a sticker well. As mentioned before, this format was likely made on a plate-by-plate basis while the legislature debated getting rid of stickers back in 2016. Funny enough, we do have a picture of a personalized plate on this format. The "Sons" plate is also a new high! Be sure to visit the "List of All Plates & Current Highs" page for a list of all current plates and their highs!
Here's a funky prototype/test plate from John Anshant: a Lieutenant Governor plate in an opposite color scheme for production plates from this era. Numbers 1 and 2 are no longer issued to the Governor and Lt. Governor, they are held by lucky citizens of the Commonwealth.
Last up this week we have a 1928 Trailer plate from John Anshant. These early Trailer plates are super hard to get into collections!
Here is the latest batch of plate types to be spotted on the new "Let Freedom Ring" base: West Virginia Alumni and Knights of Columbus. Thanks to Ed Miciolek (via Kieran Whitby and Noah Foster) and Mike Sava for the pictures, keep them coming!
NEW PLATES ALERT! Here are the newest types to be added to the plate roster: Acorn Acres Wildlife Rehab and Narberth Ambulance. Keep your eyes peeled as they begin to hit the streets!
Here's a "first-of" for this site: a 1978 Trailer Dealer plate from John Anshant! This type began in 1972, at a time when the letter in the tag number represented the Dealer type. "A" was for New Car Dealer, "B" for Used Car Dealer, and "C" for MV Business, which was a catch-all for any other dealer-type business that wasn't a retail dealership. Trailer Dealer plates received the "E" prefix while the "D" prefix was reserved for Tractor Dealer type, which began in 1916. It should be noted that New Car Dealer and Used Car Dealer both used the same prefix starting with the 1999 replate on the "WWW" base; their designations as new or used car dealerships were still registered with PennDOT but Dealer tags all had the same series. That changed yet again in 2022 when the Dealer types were brought into the "Family of Plates" design language. As always, click the links to see the complete history.
Bruce Bufalini sends in this new high for the Gold Star Family plate type. As always, be sure to visit the "List of All Plates & Current Highs" page for a list of all current plates and their highs!
Last but not least we have this new high for the Format 1 1965 Motorcycle plate type, courtesy of eBay. The previously-observed high is "H52P" so this is a great upgrade.
Here is the latest batch of plate types to be spotted on the new "Let Freedom Ring" base: Lily's Hope Foundation and AFSCME Council 13. Thanks to John Clark (left) and an anonymous contributor (right) for the pictures, keep them coming!
Richard Than sends in this new high for the Corvette Club of Delaware Valley plate type. This plate type is very seldom spotted in the wild so this is an exceptionally good sighting. Be sure to visit the "List of All Plates & Current Highs" page for a list of all current plates and their highs!
Here's a "first-of" from Matt Ciecka: a personalized PA Classic Vehicle plate on the new "Let Freedom Ring" base. It's rather costly to order a personalized Classic plate; one will set you back $238.00! You can use Form MV-11 to order and use Form MV-70S to see all PennDOT fees.
Speaking of PennDOT forms, we've added two new forms to the Documents (Plate Applications) page:
Form MV-150AD - Members of U.S. Military and PA National Guard
Form MV-150P - U.S. Military Service
Last up this week is this beautiful 1935 Dealer sample plate, courtesy of eBay seller "Southwest License Plate Shed". this is another "first-of" for this site. The production of sample plates from this era was inconsistent at best so it's always good when we can find a new one.