The photos on this
website, whether provided by me or other contributors, are intended for use
solely on this website, and may not be otherwise used without permission.
This is a
reference-only website, no plate sales.
What's new in the last 30 days?
٠ Click
thumbnail images to enlarge ٠ Click links to go to plate galleries
Here is a new high Dealer plate recently
spotted by Jordan Irazabal. The
most recent change to this plate type was the addition of the map outline which is
believed to have made its debut at K51-500.
Here's the lowest plate spotted without the
sticker well and latest high
Delaware Valley Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America. Both
plates from Jordan Irazabal. To
get a better understanding of these plate progressions and see intervening
plates, click the link above. Unfortunately, many of these plates have the
organization name completely obscured by the frame.
Here's the latest Lehigh University
Alumni high number. Despite being the new high, it still retains
the sticker well. Lehigh University's plate program dates back to 1988 on
the yellow on blue base. The current color graphic format dates back to
late 2006. This plate photo is also thanks to Jordan Irazabal.
This Save Wild Animals
plate would have been issued in 1996, but it's still on the road, and was
recently photographed by David Dohan. With the addition of this photo, the
display page has P/Z0000, P/Z0002,
P/Z0003 and P/Z0008.
This plate type was discontinued in 2013 and replaced by the
Support Your Zoo
which is still available today.
This is a 1931 Format 1 Dealer
plate. That format started at X1 and ran to X9999, before moving the 'X'
to the second position. So plates with X+1, 2 or 3 digits were 6 inches by
10 inches, and plates with X+4 digits measured 6 inches by 12 inches. This
plate photo came from the Bill Krellner collection.
Next up is this 1932 Format 2 Dealer
plate. Format 2 had the 'X' in position 2 and the series likely ran from
0X to 9X999, so both 6-inch by 10-inch and 6-inch by 12-inch bases were used.
There was also a Format 3 series with the 'X' in position 3. This image is
thanks to Worthpoint.
1934 Dealer plates —
the year without the traditional 'X'. The use of plates with an 'X' as the
prefix, or within the plate serial number, did not appear on 1934 plates.
The legend DEALER was added in its place. All-numeric (1 to 9999) and alpha-numeric plates were issued. The P311
plate shown here is a poor photo, but also establishes a new high. 1935
saw the return of the 'X'. These
plate photos came from the Bill Krellner collection.
Here are two examples of 1953 Miscellaneous Dealer
plates. The very nice plate on the far left with the 'X' in the first
position is from Ed Burr, while the plate with the 'X' in the second position is
from Worthpoint. All such plates used 5 characters and were 6" x 10¼".
This is a very nice 1953 Passenger plate.
Many of the serial progressions that year used both 4 and 5 character formats.
This is a Format 4 plate which series used both 10A0 and 10A00, and as always, the
letter was the final character to advance. Thanks to Ed Burr for the
photo.
Here is a pair of 1942 U-Weight Class Truck
plates. There were 4 U-Class serial progressions used that year, U000A,
U00A0, U0A00, U00AA. With these additions, the Truck page now shows 3 of
the 4. Plates were issued in pairs and measured 6 inches by 12 inches.
Still need V, W, Y and Z classes. These images are from Worthpoint.
1944 saw the return of plates production;
however, all was not the same. Plates were issued as singles and the size
had been reduced to 6 inches by 11 inches. Here we have 2 U-Weight Class Truck plates,
and a Z Class. The '44 U-Class plates used the same serial progressions as
the '42 plates above. These images are from Worthpoint.
Obviously these are both 1963 validation stickers.
The far left sticker came from Tom Firth, while the other came from Shawn Bergan,
and was previously posted. I'm going to suggest that the yellow sticker
was likely for a new Passenger plate, but can't offer a suggestion on the red
sticker. Tom Firth reminds me that his stickers are unused. UPDATE:
Bob Connison informs us that the red stickers were used on Suburban plates in
'63.
Posting 9/13/2020
Here's a new organizational plate —
Keystone Elk Country Alliance. Not surprisingly there is no
listing of this plate on PennDOT's website. Jonathan Ortmann spotted this
new sample plate at the Elk Country Visitor Center. If you were not aware,
PA has a wild Elk herd in the north-central part of the state. The
prototype came from the
organization's website where there is additional
information about purchasing a plate. I'd really like to know how many other
'unknown' organizational plates are out there?
This was taken on the fly, so not a good Antique Vehicle plate
photo. After looking at it, I realized that this is the lowest sequence on this A0AA serial format so far. I'm sure better examples of lower
numbers will come along.
I
recently spotted two Lehigh University buses with sequential Omnibus plates, and
noticed that they both had what appeared to be strange looking validation stickers. They were
behind a fence and down an incline, so I could not see the stickers well enough,
but the camera did the trick. It appears that Lehigh created their own
Mountain Hawk stickers to cover up the long since expired state-issued stickers.
This is a 1918 Dealer plate.
The 'X' prefix has identified Dealer plates from 1911 up through 1965.
1918 colors were white on black. This plate appears to have been
refinished. This X+4-digit plate measures 6 inches by 16 inches.
Plates with X+1, 2 or 3 digits were 6 inches by 13½ inches. This series
ran from X1 to at least X7771. This plate photo was from the Bill Krellner
collection.
Next is this 1922 Dealer plate.
It is difficult to tell from the photo, which was taken under marginal lighting
conditions, but the original colors were brown on cream. This 6-inch by
16-inch plate is also a new high on this website. This plate photo
was from the Bill Krellner collection.
This
is a 1930 Motorcycle
plate and depicts a 5-digit serial number. This is a full-size M/C plate
measuring 4½ inches by 8 inches. Plates with 3 or fewer characters were
smaller at 4½ inches by 6 inches. Anyone have one? 1930 appears to
be the last year where 5 digits were used for the over 10-thousand series, after
which alpha-numeric configurations were used to limit the plate to 4 characters.
This photo is thanks to Worthpoint.
Next up is this 1937 Motorcycle plate in
an alpha-numeric format. All plates were the same size at 4½ inches by 8
inches regardless of the number of characters which could be 1 to 4. Note
the use of the stacked M/C which began in 1934. This photo came from the
Bill Krellner collection.
Here is a 1942 Motorcycle plate with a
1943 validation strip. Since 1942 bases had to be extended to cover
1943, the alpha-numeric progression began a new series.
1A00 to 9A99 was used with the
alpha character now in the second position.
This photo also came from the Bill Krellner
collection.
This photo shows a 1971
to '76 issue Tractor plate, still in use. No big deal until you
run the plate number and vanity check shows that it is STILL VALID! My
next thought was that the registration number must be on a current
organizational plate. But there are no special org plates with a TR-prefix.
So we have an almost 50 year old tractor plate still in use. The
plate should have been replaced by a Special Mobile Equipment
(SME) plate in the mid-1980s. The photo was sent to me by Preston Turner
who thought the tractor may have been owned by a local electric company.
Here is a threesome of early National Guard
plates from 1930, 1931 and 1933. 1930 was the starting point for National Guard
plates. They were issued up through 1935, and not issued again until 1984.
These early Guard plates share a similar appearance with
Consular,
Judiciary,
Legislative
and
Official Use
plates of the same time period.
Posting 9/6/2020
Finally got to a car show this past weekend
in Easton, and came away with a few images, starting with this new high Antique Vehicle plate.
I posted one of these last week and tried to explain the order in which the
characters advance. Yes, it's a little confusing, but the order should be
4-1-3-2. This means that the letter 'B', as the first character, is the
last to advance, the number 2, as the numerical character, is the first to
advance, etc.
Here's another new high from the same car
show. The serial progression on the Classic Vehicle series is
far simpler with 5-digit number advancing in a normal numeric fashion. So
far the letter 'C' does not advance. It has taken about 16 years for the
series to go from C00001 to the plate shown here.
This Street Rod tag is the
final newer style plate from the Easton car show, and is also a new series high.
Street Rod plates are not high volume plates as are the plates above. For
many car owners and plate enthusiasts, the "Family of Plates" look combined with
the redundant wording is a big disappointment.
I really wish the state would make such
plate frames unlawful, at the present the frame may not obstruct the state name,
which it doesn't, but the organization name can't be read.
Anyway this
Delaware Valley Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America was recently
spotted by Jordan Irazabal. This
plate is the only one spotted so far without the sticker well and without the
map. Plate 00153 has the sticker well , and 00174 has the map outline.
This new high
Vietnam Veterans of America plate was recently spotted by Jaska Börner.
Can't say for sure if this plate is missing the sticker well. This plate
program dates back to 1992 and rather than describe the history, below are three
images depicting the history of this plate type.
This plate frame does a disservice to the
plate by completely blocking both the state name and the plate type. At the
same time the Pittsburgh Penguins wording on the frame provides a clue as to the
state. NASCAR plates stopped
being issued in May of 2010, but many remain in use. This plate was part
of the 3rd and final format of NASCAR 99 Carl
Edwards plates. Below are examples of the first two, although one
is a sample. It is unknown if any plates were issued with the green
99. The above plate photo is thanks to
Bruce Bufalini. The below images were provided by Clayton Moore and Tom Perri
respectively.
Here
is a pair of Omnibus
images that would represent plates near the end of the 1974 run and the
beginning of the 1984 run. The blue on yellow plate run may have extended
all the way to OB-24999, or possibly the plates were produced but not fully issued
by the time the '84 run started. The likely starting point for the yellow
on blue plates would have been OB-26000. Does anyone have a plate in
between these two? The source of the far left plate is unknown, possibly
eBay about 5 years ago. If it's yours, please let me know. The other
is from Eastern Coast Productions.
This is a 1949 Tractor plate.
The first serial progression ran from 0001 to 9999, then the alpha-numeric
series began at A000 and went at least as high as the plate shown here.
Plates measured 6 inches by 11 inches, and were issued as singles. This
photo came from Clayton Moore.
Next up is this 1954 Tractor plate.
Like the plate above, there were two serial progressions starting with
the all-numeric series as shown here. Beginning in 1953, the plate size had been
reduced from 6 inches by 11 inches to 6 inches by 10¼ inches. This was
likely done as a cost-cutting measure. This plate image came from Worthpoint.
This is a 1942 T-Weight Class Truck plate
with a 1943 validation tab. For 1942 there were three T-weight class
serial progressions — T000A, T00A0 and T0A00, with the plate shown here being
part of the first group. This plate was part of the Bill Krellner
collection. Still need V, W and Y class plate photos, as well as any
double-letter classes.
A lot of similarities here, both yellow on
blue, both 1952 Passenger
Samples, and besides the one being 5 characters while the other has
four, the difference is the size of the base. The far left base measures
6" by 10¼" and is from later in the production year, while the near left plate
measures 6" by 11" and from earlier in the process. The plate size was
also reduced
on the final 4 passenger serial progressions. The PA000 image is from Worthpoint,
the PA00 is thanks to John Willard and was previously posted.
Posting 8/30/2020
This is a new high Antique Vehicle plate.
This current format was added on 3/15/2020. I've only seen a couple of
these on the road, but with the number of car shows being greatly reduced, it is
hard to get good photos. If I understand the serial progression correctly,
the starting point would have been A0AA, with the number being the first to advance,
then the letter in the 4th position, followed by the letter in the 3rd position,
followed by the letter in the 1st position. A0AA to A9AA, then A0AB to
A9AZ, then A0BA to A9ZZ, then B0AA, etc. Thanks to Jaska Börner for the
photo.
Here's the latest in Presque
Isle Partnership plates spotted by
Bruce Bufalini. This plate type has been around since 2006, and has
moved to the map outline base between 00977P/I
and 0120P/I. Sale of the plate supports
restoration and preservation of the historic Presque Isle Lighthouse on Lake
Erie.
Here is a recent In God We
Trust plate, also thanks to
Bruce Bufalini. These are optional
plates, and therefore do not require membership or affiliation with, or donation
to an organization, cause or group. This plate is still showing the
sticker well. The other such optional plate is the
Teen Driver.
This vertical Motorcycle plate
photo was provided by Kristofer Knittle. In an effort to see how many of
these plates were registered, I looked at the annual report of registrations.
Unfortunately PennDOT hasn't issued a report since 2018. Considering these
plate were introduced in 2014, by the end of 2018 the report indicated that
1,566 plates were registered with the greatest numbers being in Lancaster and
York Counties. The initial 'M' and the final 'C' are static non-advancing
characters. There are even a few vanities where the initial 'M' and the
final 'C' are not used. The plates measure 4" by 7".
The far left Omnibus plate represents a low
number on the Format 4 series that appears to have run from OB-64000 to
OB-68999. The center plate is a high in that same series. Format 4
saw the return of the serif I in Omnibus. The right-hand plate is a new
high on Format 5 which is believed to have run from OB-69000 to OB-86799.
Format 5 was the beginning of the visitPA base. The 1st and 3rd plates are
from Eastern Coast Productions; the center plate photo is from Worthpoint.
This first generation Purple Heart
/ Combat Wounded Veteran plates was sold on eBay not long ago and George Kunsman
was the successful buyer. He also provided this photo. The number
seemed high compared to other Purple Heart plates, but we really don't know the
range of numbers. This plate has a 7-91 sticker, and it would have been
around that time that the next generation of Purple Heart plates was issued with
the legend now reading Combat Wounded Veteran
Here is a 1953 Passenger plate
which is part of Format 1 which ran from 1001 to 99999. The number also
forms a palindrome, which happen to be a favorite of Ed Burr. All
passenger plates in 1952 measured 6 inches by 10¼" and were issued as singles.
Here is an additional group of 1953 Passenger
plates. They are not part of the 13 standard serial progressions but
appear to be part of a group of 3-character non-standard issue plates.
From what I can determine, this group can include the following combinations:
000, A00, 0A0, 00A, AA0, 0AA, A0A, but not AAA. These all measure 6 inches
by 10¼". Thanks to Ed Burr for the photos of this group of unique plates.
Unfortunately the location of the display
and the lighting were not conducive to good photography. These are all
Motorcycle Dealer plates. Starting on the far left is a 1923 plate
with this being the first year for Motorcycle Dealer tags. Next are a 1937 and 1938. These are
all part of Bill Krellner's collection.
On the far left is a low-number 1965 base
Motorcycle plate with a 70 sticker. The initial run of these
plates ran from 1 to 9999 before switching to a variety of alpha-numeric
progressions. The source of that plate is unknown, let me know if it's
yours. The other plate is a 1971 base with a 72
sticker. That plate fills a gap in series formatting that is based on data
from Harry Campbell a few years ago. I need to take another look at plate
data which may require some revising or refining.
Posting 8/23/2020
This recent
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) plate photo from
Jordan Irazabal clearly shows the
absence of the sticker well, and thereby established at least a short run of
plates devoid of that feature. The group also includes 00548C/H, and
possibly higher and lower.
While we're on the subject of
CHOP plates, we have these newer plates, both now with the map outline,
but the 00591C/H plate is showing a redesigned logo. These are not new
images, but I hadn't previously noticed the change in the logo. The 591
plate photo is from Tom Perri.
Here's the latest high Severely Disabled Veteran
plate from
Bruce Bufalini. The
wheelchair symbol indicates severe disability, there are also
Disabled Veteran
plates without that symbol. The legend PENNSYLVANIA on top and DISABLED
VETERAN on bottom, the wheelchair and the stacked DV are all flat screened.
Only the 5-digit serial number is embossed, and no sticker well. There is
also a D/V99000
series for use on vehicles carrying a wheelchair or personal assistive device,
which are authorized to be issued two plates since the assistive device and
carrier may block visibility of the vehicle mounted plate.
On the far left we have a new high
Pennsylvania Auctioneers Association plate. These plates date back
to 2013. Vanity check shows a registered high of 20024A/U.
The lackluster plate sales make this a rare sighting. Thanks to
Bruce Bufalini for the photo.
Sometimes I wonder if the purpose of such a
plate frame is to protect the plate, or just to make the plate harder to read.
Whatever the case, this is a new high Ridley School
District tag. These plates date back to the latter part of 2019.
Thanks to
Jordan Irazabal
for the photo.
This single letter 'W' Passenger vanity
plate was recently spotted by Rob Baran in his travels. It got me checking
to see how many other single letter plates I have photos of. Not quite
half of the alphabet with some doubles. Vanity check shows that all 26
letters are currently in use.
This 1931 Passenger plate is
part of what I call Format 3 which was made up with plates from 0A to 9Z999.
So obviously the 2-character combinations are very rare. This beauty
measures 6 inches by 10 inches. I want to express my gratitude to Ed Burr
for sharing a number of unique 3-character plates and some palindromes that I
will post over the next several weeks.
For anyone not familiar with the term
palindrome, it refers to a combination of letters and or numbers that reads the
same backwards as forward. In this case the term applies to this 1951 Passenger plate.
This is a Format 13 plate, which series started at D000A. Having the
passenger series start at D000A, suggests that Transit Dealer plate series
starting with C000A would have been assigned to the C-series, with New and Used
Car Dealers assigned the A000A and B000A series respectively.
Does the 'E' give it away as a 1924 Tractor plate?
The 'E' prefix was used on tractor plates from their beginning in 1914 up
through 1927, after which the 'E' was needed for the passenger series. The
'E' stood for engine. This plate is part of the Bill Krellner collection
and is a new high number. This plate measures 6 inches by 12 inches.
Next up is this 1948 Tractor plate.
In this case the 'M' is part of the serial number and has no special
significance. This plate was high up on a rafter making the
photo-rendering of the plate somewhat distorted. The first series of these
plates ran from 0001 to 9999, then A000, etc., with the alpha character last to
advance. This plate measures 6 inches by 11 inches. This plate is
part of the Bill Krellner collection.
Here is a similar 1954 Tractor plate.
This also made for an awkward photo. By 1954 these plates extended well
into the alpha series going at least into the U000 series. Also by this
time, the plate size had been reduced to 6 inches by 10¼ inches. I would be
interested in knowing how many plates were used on industrial tractors vs farm
tractors. This plate is part of the Bill Krellner collection.
This is a pair of 1949 S-Class Truck plates.
They are part of the 3rd (S0A00) and 4th (S00AA) serial progressions for the
S-class. All 1949 Truck plates measured 6 inches by 11 inches.
Anyone have a Y- or Z-class plate, or any of the 2-letter classes?
Images and photos are always welcome.
Please send to:
I
recently spotted two Lehigh University buses with sequential
Omnibus plates, and
noticed that they both had what appeared to be strange looking validation stickers. They were
behind a fence and down an incline, so I could not see the stickers well enough,
but the camera did the trick. It appears that Lehigh created their own
Mountain Hawk stickers to cover up the long since expired state-issued stickers.
This
is a 1930 Motorcycle
plate and depicts a 5-digit serial number. This is a full-size M/C plate
measuring 4½ inches by 8 inches. Plates with 3 or fewer characters were
smaller at 4½ inches by 6 inches. Anyone have one? 1930 appears to
be the last year where 5 digits were used for the over 10-thousand series, after
which alpha-numeric configurations were used to limit the plate to 4 characters.
This photo is thanks to Worthpoint.
Here
is a pair of Omnibus
images that would represent plates near the end of the 1974 run and the
beginning of the 1984 run. The blue on yellow plate run may have extended
all the way to OB-24999, or possibly the plates were produced but not fully issued
by the time the '84 run started. The likely starting point for the yellow
on blue plates would have been OB-26000. Does anyone have a plate in
between these two? The source of the far left plate is unknown, possibly
eBay about 5 years ago. If it's yours, please let me know. The other
is from Eastern Coast Productions.
