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Just for grins I was looking at vintage plates. Anybody know of a website that explains the way the old (60s) plates for various state were coded? Like a plate might read "M 1654" and it was a Municipal plate.
Don’t know of a website but in Minnesota, in those days the first character was the number of the congressional district the car was in. We have eight districts so no plate ever began with a 0 or a 9.
Thus, you could could generally tell if the car was local or not.
In Washington the first letter was assigned by county size: A for King county, B for Pierce, and C for Spokane. My first vette, a '64 I bought in '66 came from Spokane and the license was CDV415.
In Georgia in at least the'50s and '60s, the first one, two, or three numbers indicated the county in which the vehicle was registered. Counties were assigned numbers based on population. "1" for the largest, which I believe was Fulton at the time. "155" was for the smallest.
In Indiana back in the 50s & 60s, etc, the first 2 digits were numbers that corresponded to the "name" of the county in alphabetical order. There were 92 counties starting with Adams county and ending with Whitley Cty. The 3rd digit was a letter denoting the DMV in the county. For instance, my county was Greene County and that corresponded to 28. There were 3 DMV sites in the county so you could have a plate starting with 28A, 28B or 28C. My dad had a 57 Chevy and he got a special plate that was 28C1957.
I don't think the state still uses that convention. I left in the mid 60s so my info is dated.
Bob
59 245 hp
waving in San Diego
In Georgia in at least the'50s and '60s, the first one, two, or three numbers indicated the county in which the vehicle was registered. Counties were assigned numbers based on population. "1" for the largest, which I believe was Fulton at the time. "155" was for the smallest.
I have a year of manufacture plate for 1964 on my car. I don't think MASS had any codes in the numbering sequence. The only item of interest was the plates were previously offered in odd years, 1964 was the first even year for issue to go with a new painting process. The reason they changed is the plates were made in a state prison and the 61, 63 plates had very poor paint durability. They think the prisoners were urinating in the paint to affect the quality.
FWIW My adopted state of PA has reg's and codes for everything - see link for examples. You can use old DoM plates if they are not in use and you find the plate...PA Plates
My original state of DE (the first state!) used some codes to indicate dealer, truck or passenger carrier etc. but still has original porcelain plates going back to the single digits (quite a market - they are handed down & sold etc). I had lower 5-digit tags from 30s & 40s on my vehicles and gave them to friends when I moved.
IN NY there was a county's code of either one or 2 letter's, might help if the OP was stating what state he wanted info on
Well Masschuetts but I was also curious in general as I know the States will all do their own thing as long as it suits them so that's interesting too. Might be fun to pick up a correct year plate but I never really thought about it before.
Here is a page that helps decode Florida plates that were in use between 1938 and 1975. C1 and C2 Corvettes generally would have had plates with no "use code", which is consistent with a passenger car between 2,500-3,499 lbs.
Well Masschuetts but I was also curious in general as I know the States will all do their own thing as long as it suits them so that's interesting too. Might be fun to pick up a correct year plate but I never really thought about it before.
In NY you can also register a car on YOM plate as long as the number isnt in use.
In NY you can also register a car on YOM plate as long as the number isnt in use.
Same in MA. The RMV questioned my 64 plate, said it was used. I told them it came off my original 64 and that wasn't possible so they allowed me to reuse it. The only thing with YOM plates is they stopped using the year designation after 1966. The 1967 thru 73 went to a white background with blue numbers. I also have a 1977 with YOM plates and they are red on white.
IN NY there was a county's code of either one or 2 letter's, might help if the OP was stating what state he wanted info on
My grandparents plate was RB101 and Staten Island was know as the borough of Richmond. So Richmond Borough 101? That must have been right after horse and wagons.
Decoding old license plates
My grandparents plate was RB101 and Staten Island was know as the borough of Richmond. So Richmond Borough 101? That must have been right after horse and wagons.