Eric Conner shares this set of State Senator plates which were registered to Senator George Wade, who served in the PA Senate from 1941 to 1974 and in the PA House from 1931 to 1934. The number "31" is significant as Sen. Wade served the 31st senatorial district; the plates with "312" were likely for a second or spouse's vehicle. Eric shares that these plates came from the estate of the late (State) Rep. Fred Noye. Legislative plates were first issued in 1928 and ran through 1935. The next year that saw plates clearly marked for state legislators was 1966, but plates are known with "PA" and "HR" and one, two, and three numbers before and after "PA" and "HR" since 1951. While we still do not have confirmation that these plates pictured are separate plate types (they are likely a reserved series similar to how vanity plate started in PA, see the Passenger page starting in 1965), we now know that politicians received "special" plates as far back as 1951, thanks to Eric's discovery.

John Clark shares this picture of a La Salle College High School plate, the first plate of this type observed without a sticker well. This plate type began in 2005, meaning that about 7 plates are issued each year on average.

Here's another one from John Clark, this one for the Lycoming College plate type. This is the first time this type has been observed with the map outline graphic. This plate type began in 2010, which means that about 9 plates are issued each year on average.

John Clark also shares this interesting souvenir plate from the 2009 ALPCA Convention. ALPCA is the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association and is a club for plate collectors. It's only $36 per year to join and we recommend it to anyone interested in the hobby. Visit https://www.alpca.org/join/ to learn more!

Last up this week is quite an uncommon sighting: a duplicated Amateur Radio plate. This is done when someone wants their FCC call sign on two plates. This individual presumably has "K3EA" in the driveway as well. Thank you to Kevin C. for the picture!

The Plate of the Week award goes to Eric Tanner for this 1941 Tractor plate he found on the website LicensePl8s.com. Before Eric's discovery, only all-numeric series were observed for this year and type. We now know that numbering advanced into the A000 format for this year. Thanks Eric!

Ben Vaughn sends in this picture of a personalized U.S. Army (Active Duty) plate. This is a "first-of" for this site. We cannot say this enough: the success of this website is due to the many people who have contributed over the years and who continue to contribute every week.

Sebastian DiSclafani shares this picture of a blue base Multipurpose Dealer plate. This type started in 1991 on the blue base, transitioned to the "www" base in 1999, then to the "visitPA" base around 2020, and finally to the "Family of Plates" design in 2024. Click the link to see the complete history!

Here's a new high for the La Salle College High School plate type from John Clark. It's also the first observed plate for this type without the sticker well. For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

Lastly here's another high, also from John Clark, for the Lycoming College plate type. This is the first observed plate of this type with the map outline.

The Plate of the Week award goes to Clayton Moore for the discovery of this 1925 Tractor plate. It was previously thought that numbers E1 - E-999 measured 6" x 10" and numbers E1000 and above measured 6" x 12". Thanks to Clayton's find, we now know that numbers E1 - E99 measure 6" x 10" and numbers E-100 and above measure 6" x 12". Tractor plates are no longer issued; accordingly, you can find them on the Defunct Types, Special Event Plates, Etc. page under the main Highs page. Thanks Clayton!

Our own John McDevitt spotted this personalized Williamson College of the Trades plate. Not only is it a "first-of" for this site, it's just plain hard to spot one of these plates, personalized or not!

Bruce Sakson sends in this picture of a new high for the PA Society Of Professional Engineers plate type. This type came out in 2015 which means that not many plates at all are issued annually, making this another super tough one to spot in the wild. For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

Here's a very nice Trailer sample plate from the mid 1970s. Non-Passenger Pennsylvania sample plates are not terribly difficult to find but not all types were made for all years/bases. This entry is a "first-of" for this website!

Last up this week is another personalized specialty plate, this time for the U.S. Army (Active Duty) plate type. This is yet another "first-of" this week - thanks to Ben Vaughn for the picture!

The Municipal plate type is now in the "R" series. This format started at "MG-9000J" which means that about 52,500 plates have been issued on this format since this particular format began in 2017. It's also a new high! Click here to see observed highs for all plate types, and thank you to Bill Young for the picture.

David Dohan submits this picture of the #1 plate for the Silver Star type. This type came out in 2012 and the current high is "00060 S/I" which means that 4-5 plates are issued each year, on average.

Preston Turner sends in this picture of a 1925 Truck plate as seen in a framed picture at an establishment he recently visited. The serial number is "T1121", the 1,121st plate in the "T" weight class (in this case, (3,001-4,000 lb unladen). Click the thumbnail to see a full-size version. The second picture is a good picture of another 1925 Truck plate for comparison (compliments of Bill Krellner).

John Clark spotted this new high for the NRA Foundation plate type. This plate type started in 2011 which means that about 66 plates are issued each year, on average (5-6 per month).

John Clark also sends in this picture of a Saint Joseph's University plate with no sticker well and no map outline. This is not the first picture of this format for this site but it further helps with serial changeover points. As mentioned before, this format was a holdover format which is seen on plate types which are reordered/restocked often. This format exists because the decision to add the map outline was not made until a few months after the decision was made to stop issuing stickers, so the sticker well was eliminated but there were no instructions at that time to add anything in its place.

Jeff Lesher submits this new high for the Let Freedom Ring plate type. This plate costs $56 and is available for cars and motorcycles. Twenty-five dollars of the $56 "will benefit the Pennsylvania Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial to help fund activities related to the Semiquincentennial." "Let Freedom Ring" is also the newest Pennsylvania tourism slogan as well as the legend on the upcoming redesigned license plates! Click here for the order form for this plate, and click here to see this and all current highs

Here's a nice looking personalized Operation Enduring Freedom plate spotted by Jimmy Coates. You could say this is a "Number 1" plate, but THE number 1 plate is "00001 E/F", the first plate issued in sequence.

Here's a nice 1955 Bus plate currently listed on eBay. Bus plates started in 1924 with the "O" prefix and a second letter was added in 1946 after "O9999" was reached.

Matt Ciecka shares this personalized School Vehicle plate. This plate type is not frequently issued, so seeing a personalized version is even tougher!

Lastly we have a new high for the Ruffed Grouse Society plate type. This plate type came out in 2005 which means that 8 or 9 plates are issued each year, on average. Thanks to Dillon Hornberger for the picture!

The Plate of the Week award goes to Ned Flynn for this 1958 Governor plate. Ned shares that the plate is in mint condition and arrived to him with remnants of some paper-like wrapper. Ned believes that this may have been a duplicate of the plate on the governor’s car which was carried in the car in case the one on the car was stolen or to give as a political favor.

William Jude shares this picture of a Great American Outdoor Show temporary plate. Special Event plates have been issued in Pennsylvania since at least 1962 and it's nice to see that this tradition continues today. This is the first image of this type for this site, thanks William!

Here's a new high for the Antique Vehicle plate type from Ryan Battin. This plate type started in 1956 and has been through a myriad of formats and serial combinations. Click the link to see a complete history, and be sure to check out the Highs page for a list of all plate types and their current highs!

On January 19 of this year we shared a new high for the Motorcycle (vertical) plate. This type's high is not updated too frequently, but now we have another new high, this time from Jeff Lesher. These were created for people who wanted to mount their license plate on the fender of their motorcycle.

Last up this week is a remake of an old Passenger number on a newer base plate. The use of the keystone separator tells us that this is a remake of an old number, as opposed to a vanity where they would have used a hyphen. It's unknown when this number was first issued to this person, as the 111-111 serial format goes back many years. Click the link to see more details!

Here is the newest agency-specific Official Use plate: Pennsylvania Capitol Police. It is safe to assume that the only place to spot these is around the capitol complex in Harrisburg. See this new type and all other Official types on the Official page!

Tim Gierschick shares this low-number plate from 1958. Records indicate that the Passenger series for this year began at number "100-000" and the "Reserve" series started at number "1001". It appears that this plate was mounted at one point so it's likely that this number was issued to a VIP, someone who had enough influence to get a number even lower than the authorized run of numbers. It appears that the sticker number matches the plate number, too!

Here's a new high for the Bucknell University plate type from John Clark. This is the first sighting of this plate type with the map outline as well! For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

Here's another "first of" for this site: a personalized Format 2 Operation Iraqi Freedom plate. This one comes from Nick Tsilakis, a longtime contributor to this site. A sincere "thank you" to everyone who has contributed to this site over the years to make it the great resource that it is!

Lastly this week is a new high for the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company plate type, and yet another "first of" for this site - the first observed plate of this type with the map outline. This fire house is located in a small town somewhere between Butler and Pittsburgh, so you're likely only to spot one of these if you live in the immediate vicinity of the fire house. Thanks to Ben Vaughn for this one!

The Plate of the Week award goes to yours truly for spotting this INSANELY rare Fleet Transporter plate in the wild. Per John McDevitt, only 93 of these plates are active across the whole state, and because it's a dealer-esque type, they are not always mounted to a vehicle.

Dillon Hornberger shares this new high for the PA Sportsman type. This plate was authorized back in July 2024 and hit the roads in or around October 2024. It looks to be enjoying good sales so far. For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

John Clark shares this picture of a new high for the Geneva College plate type. This is the first sighting of this plate type since the logo was updated.

John Clark also shares this picture of a Pennsylvania Farm Show plate. As indicated on the plate, it's a temporary plate, valid only from January 4 thru January 11, 2025. It's also the first plate issued! John reports that he also spotted numbers 08, 10, and 12 of this type. This is the first Farm Show plate known to this site.

Last up we have this picture of a personalized Upper Gwynedd Township Fire Department plate, a "first of" for this website. This one is also from John Clark - thanks John!

The Plates of the Week award goes to Marjory Cahill Shelton, who submitted these two Press Photographer plates. Mrs. Shelton reached out to us to share these pictures and to let us know that she is the oldest child of Pat Cahill, who was instrumental in getting this plate type started in 1956. She also confirmed that he received the first plate that was issued, which was "PP11".

Two Passenger plates in the "MTA" series have been spotted, one with a blurry picture and one with no picture. Keep your eyes open as this series progresses!

Here are a few personalized plates for the Combat Action Badge and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. plate types. These are both "first-of" pictures for this site! Thank you to Bill Young for the Combat Action Badge picture and to Jordan Irazabal for the Alpha Kappa Alpha picture.

Jonathan Ortmann shares this picture of the #1 plate for the Tall Cedars of Lebanon plate type. This type came out in 2005 and the current high is T/C 00063, which means that about 3 plates are issued every year on average. Consider yourself lucky if you spot one of these in the wild!

Last but not least we have this awesome pair of plates sent in by Bill Jesse. All-numeric plates, including low-number plates like this, are catalogued in the Passenger section of this website, under the "Personalized Plate" column. It should be noted that personalized plates started in 1965. Generally speaking, three-digit numbers are available from time to time but it's almost impossible to secure a number under 100.

We now have a prototype image of the recently-announced Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal plate, thanks to John McDevitt's research. In order to be eligible to order this plate, you must submit a copy of your DD214 discharge papers indicating that you served in the 65th Infantry Regiment - "The Borinqueneers" - or other evidence of being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Click here for a link to the application.

Ben Vaughn submits this picture of a personalized Animal Friends plate. With PennDOT offering hundreds of special organization plates, there are so many opportunities to have a low-number plate!

This Vertical Motorcycle plate may not look like a new high, but it is! This type came out in 2014, starting at M0A0C thru M9Z9C, now MA0AC thru this new high. The first letter M and last letter C never advance. Thanks to Jonathan Ortmann for the picture, click to see a larger version!

Here is a pair of new highs from John Clark for the Susquehanna University and Michigan State Alumni plate types. This is the first time either type has been observed with the map outline graphic. Click the links to see the complete history for each type!

Ben Vaughn submits this new high for the Expeditionary Forces Veteran plate type. This type started in 1995 on the blue and red on white base at E/F 0001.

This new high for the Honoring Our Veterans plate, sent in by Ben Vaughn, is also the first spotting with the map outline graphic. From what we have observed about this type's serial ranges, it is clear that PennDOT overestimated the demand for this plate type. Plates with the sticker well (which disappeared in early 2017) continued to be issued into mid-late 2020 and today (early 2025) we have the first spot of a plate with a map outline, a change that was first seen in 2017! Click the type name to see a complete history of the plate type, and check out all of the current highs here (you will find this plate in the "Special Fund" section)!

Here's another high, this one sent in by Avery Merz, for the Emergency Vehicle plate type. This tier of numbers falls under the "No Fee/Permanent" category, which is generally for ambulances and fire trucks owned by municipalities; lower numbers are for private companies. Click on the plate type link to see the full breakdown of numbers.

Here's one more high for the week, this one from John Clark for the IUP Alumni Association plate type. This type started in 1985 (!) on the blue base.

Here is one of the rarest (if not THE rarest) plate type in Pennsylvania: Collectible Motorcycle. This picture comes to us from longtime contributor Ryan Battin, who was instrumental in getting this particular plate issued to his friend's motorcycle. No more than half a dozen of these plates have been issued.

This U.S. Open plate is from the 2013 U.S. Open which was held at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA. According to the their website, the U.S. Open tournament returns to Pennsylvania this June - keep your eyes open for plates! Thanks to Dan Hermann for the picture.

The Plate of the Week award goes to John Clark for this "first-of" shot of the recently-announced Thaddeus Stevens College plate. This site first announced this plate type on our 10/27/2024 post and we now have a picture of one just ten weeks later!

Several months ago, a batch of new Veteran plate types was announced. We have prototype images for all of them except Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal. Apparently the United States is taking issue with Pennsylvania using the unit's logo. This is not the first time this has happened; the Delaware DMV was sued for using the Marine Corps' logo on the Marine Corps League license plate. We will keep you updated as we learn more information.

Clayton Moore shares this picture of a 1937 Official plate. This plate number expands our knowledge of the serial range for this type and year. Clayton shares that this was an antique store find, which goes to show that there are still great plates out there!

This new high for the Quality Deer Management Association plate type comes from Craig Nicholson. As you can see, this plate lacks both a sticker well and the map outline graphic. As mentioned in previous posts, this format is known as a holdover format, likely made after the legislature decided to do away with stickers but before the map outline graphic was decided on. For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

This Gettysburg College plate may look like a personalized plate at first, but it's one of the only plates with four numbers in the serial. It started in 1999 on the blue base at "G/C 2001", at "G/C 3000" on the "www" base in 2001, and at "G/C 3200" on the "visitPA" base in 2019. This is also a new high - thanks to John Clark for sending it in!