History Pages →
Official Use
It appears that Official plates were first introduced as early as 1924. The 1924 and '25 plates used the format described below. The remainder of the early plates thru 1935 followed the format shown in the 1926 and '27 plates shown below. In 1936 the format changed slightly and the plate legend became Official Use Only. In 1938 the format changed again with the appearance of the map outline and a return to Official as the legend. At least from 1940 to 1956 no plates had the term Official on them but there was a reserved block of numbers from the standard passenger series. In 1957 the legend again became Official Use Only. Plates were undated and had Pennsylvania within the top border. This series was used until 1965 or 66.
1930 - 1938
Text in red indicates changes from previous base/format.
1930
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed serial range: 1 - 1415 - Plates measure 6" x 12" - Right keystone removed for 4-digit plate numbers |
 From Worthpoint  From Eric Conner |
Not offered on this format |  |
1931
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed serial range: 1 - 971 - Plates measure 6" x 12" - The #9 pair are aluminum, the PENNA and 1931 are reversed. There were a small number of passenger plates on aluminum, unknown if these were test plates or issued plates. |
 From Jeff Lesher  From Eric Tanner |
Not offered on this format | |
1932
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed seial range: 1 - 899 - Plates measure 6" x 12" |
 From Sarge |
Not offered on this format | |
1933
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed serial range: 1 - 1415 - Plates measure 6" x 12" - Right keystone removed for 4-digit plate numbers |
 From Sarge  From unknown |
Not offered on this format | |
1934
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed serial range: 1 - 994 - Plates measure 6" x 12" |
 From Tim Gierschick |
Not offered on this format | |
1935
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed serial range: 1 - 49 - Plates measure 6" x 12" |
 From Eric Conner |
Not offered on this format |  From John Willard |
1936
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed serial range: 31-001 - 32-000 - Plates measure 6" x 15" |
 From John Anshant |
Not offered on this format | |
1937
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed serial range: 31194 (only one plate known) - Plates measure 6" x 12" |
 From Clayton Moore |
Not offered on this format | |
1938
| Notes | Number Plate | Personalized Plate | Sample Plate |
|
- Observed serial range: 1 - 341 - Plates measure 6" x 12" |
 From Clayton Moore |
Not offered on this format |  From Paul Bagnarol |
Plates from 1939 thru 1955 were from a reserved number block of passenger plates and therefore had no distinguishing features to identify them as Official plates. All plates consisted of 5-digit serial numbers. See http://www.statetrooperplates.com/pennsylvania.html for a partial listing with images of these plates.