CALIFORNIA
Highest 1905-13 pre-state plate known: #122186
1914 2 - 122655 (121,902 P) Discs also issued 1914-15.
1915 1 - 164764 1914 disc #124288 reported.
1914 numbers not issued: 1, 24, 65, 200 - 349, 2100 - 2449,
100001 - 100250 (all Dealer plates).
1916-19 BASE All tabs match baseplate number.
1916 Type 1 1 - 229904 (229,904 P)
1917 Type 2 230199 - 599705 (369,507 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Far holes (LL hole under "A" of "CAL"), different "2"
Type 2 - Near holes (LL hole right of "L" of "CAL"), different "C"
Numbers issued as follows: 1916-19 TABS
1916 1 - 234317 1916 Bear 1 - 225808
1917 234318 - 357299 (+122,982) 1917 Poppy 1 - 337335
1918 357300 - 485000 (+127,701) 1918 Bell 1 - 435228
1919 485001 - 599705 (+114,705) 1919 Star 1 - 599705
1916 tab #230350 reported.
ANNUAL PLATES 1920-28
1920 1 - 527-637
1921 1 - 651-048*
1922 1 - 2000, 70001 - 881909 (813,909)
1923 Type 1: Double "CAL" flanking number 1 - 999
Type 2: "CAL" in center 10 00 - 20 00
Type 2a 52 185, 73 790 - 999 999
Type 2b: As Type 2, but long base (issued 5/16) 1-000 000
Type 3: Large star, "CAL" at far left *1 - 99*999
(Formats *00, *000, 00*00)
Type 4: Small star, "2/3", 1920-21 dies 100*000 - 127*827
(TOTAL 1,056,039)
1924 Type 1: No star 1 - 2-000
Type 1a 70-001 - 1-000-000
Type 2: Star *1 - *50-000
Type 1b 1-050-001 - 1-196-289
(TOTAL 1,128,289*)
1925 Type 1: Double "CAL" flanking number 1 - 999
Type 2: "CAL" in center 10 00 - 20 00
Type 2a 254 299 - 999 999
Type 2b (Formats A 0 - A 000, A-00 00) A 0 - E-99 999
Type 2c (COM F 776 - F12 547) F-20 691 - F-97 800
(No D used, D = Dealer) (TOTAL 1,224,812)
1926 Type 1: Double "CAL" flanking number 1 - 999
Type 2: "CAL" in center 10 00 - 39 24
Type 2a 325 001 - 999 999
Type 1a (A-H, 0 - 999 only) A-0 - H-100
Type 2b (A-G)(H expected) A-1 000 - G-99 999
(All letters used) (TOTAL 1,379,024)
1927 1 - 999, 10-00 - 48-72, 400-001 - 1-863-039 (1,467,911)
(233-231 also seen; COM 224-683 and 256-015 verified)
1928 1 - 999, 1-000 - 2-766, 450-001 - 2-077-568 (1,630,334*)
(2-080-000 assigned)
Non-Passenger known (for passenger block limits):
1925 COM 247 983
1926 E 6 199
1927 E 51-83
1928 E 30-01
1929-40 FORMATS No I,O,Q used. Q added 1936.
1929-30: 1A-1 - 1A-999, 1A-10-00 - 9A-99-99, 1B-1 etc.
1931-39: 1A 1 - 1A 999, 1A 10 00 - 9A 99 99, 1B 1 etc.
1940: 1A 101 - 1A 999, 1A 10 00 - 9A 99 99, 1B 101 etc.
A-L = Northern California, M-Z = Southern California.
(1929: Verify 4D,7E,6F,4G,4H,4J,6T,4V,5V,7V,2W)
No U used 1930-34.
OVERFLOW FORMATS No I,O,Q used.
1936 10 A 1 - 19 A 999, 10 B 1 - 17 D 931 (TOTAL 37,894 P)
(19 D 999 reportedly highest ordered = 39,960 P)
1937 Stacked A/A 00 01 - A/J 93 71 (TOTAL A 89,363 P)
Stacked M/M 00 01 - M/P 73 31 (27,329 P)
Unstacked MR 30 74 - MS 99 97 (16,923 P)
Stacked M/T 00 04 - M/W 96 95 (39,689 P)(TOTAL M 89,687 P)
(TOTAL 179,050 P)
1938 10 A 1 - 99 A 377 (89,288 P)
10 M 1 - 98 N 456 (178,278 P) (TOTAL 267,566 P)
1939 10 A 1 - 13 B 937 (93,844 P)
10 M 1 - 18 P 731 (188,543 P) (TOTAL 282,387 P)
1940 10 A 101 - 31 C 960 (181,559 P)
10 M 101 - 25 R 371 (256,486 P) (TOTAL 438,045 P)
CAPACITY TOTALS OF OBSERVED PLATES
1929, 1935 2,069,793 1936 2,184,846*
1930-34 no U 1,979,802 1937 2,338,046*
1936-39 w/Q 2,159,784 1938 2,427,350*
1940 2,138,184 1939 2,442,171*
1940 2,576,229*
1941-44 BASE Number control. No I,O used.*
1941 Type 1 01 A 101 - 99 Z 999 (CAPACITY 2,136,024 P)
1941 Type 1a 8A 101 - 9Z 99 99 (CAPACITY 465,253 P)
1941 Type 1b 4A 101 - 7Z 99 99 (CAPACITY 237,576 P)
1942 Type 2 1A 101 - 3T 21 74 (625,711 P)
(GRAND TOTAL 3,464,564 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Dated 1941, thick dies (CAPACITY 2,838,853)
Type 2 - Dated 1942 in reverse date block, thin dies (625,711)
*Type 2: No Q seen after 1Q.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Fresno Bee, 10/9/1940, p.10, mentions that:
"The 1941 plates for passenger cars issued to the public will
be of at least five characters, the lowest being 8A 101."
Oakland Tribune, 11/17/1940, p.60, states that 2,601,177 pairs of
passenger plates were ordered. This figure is only 100 away from
the following calculation:
01 A 101 - 99 Z 999 = 2,136,024
8A 101 - 9Z 99 99 = 465,253 (Omitting one prefix,
TOTAL = 2,601,277 but all have been seen)
Oakland Tribune, 9/12/1940, p.55, reports that an additional
order was made for 79,192 pairs of plates (= 8 prefixes).
It's unknown if this is included in above figure or not.
Oakland Tribune, 7/11/1941, p.8, reports that "the firm will
manufacture 653,320 regular plates for new cars and 2,408,700
"cover strips" for old cars for the year 1942." This first
figure is only 14 away from the following calculation:
1A 101 - 3T 99 99 = 653,334 (Omitting I and O)
1942 Goodrich tag 3S 75 21 seen, and 1942 DAV tag 1 A 6016
seen, so numbers not issued sequentially during 1942.
Type 1b highs seen by prefix: (Only A,B,C,W,X,Z seen)
4A 79 82, 4B 79 69, 4W 89 17, 4X 91 61
5A 91 09, 5B 79 36, 5W 84 89, 5X 99 41
6A 39 54, 6B 80 92, 6W 89 66, 6X 76 51
7A 79 38, 7B 99 98, 7C 99 94, 7W 88 43, 7X 72 69, 7Z 47 80
4B 83 72 shown in 12/26/1941 press photo with 1942 strip.
4X 21 86 shown in period photo with 1942 strip and 1943 tab.
5X 39 86 shown in period news photo announcing 1942 strip.
5A 28 97, 5B 73 62, 5X 96 95, 6W 74 10, 6W 78 59, 6X 76 51, 7W 45 54 have 1942 strip.
5B 908, 6W 955 have 1943 tab, no sign of strip.
4A 61 13 mint pair.
TABS
1942 0053385 - 2916386*t (Pair 0188305 - 2315938)
"V" (1943) 92770 - 2516539
1946 70849 - 3191142*t
1948 0692767 - 4355960*t (Pair 2568377 - 2741639)
1949 0290524 - 4404234*t (Passenger began at 0600001)
1950 0841517 - 5283096*t (Pair 1146989 - 3580522)
1952 0486458 - 5795001* (Pair 2328019 - 3485994)
1953 0492672 - 6424009* (Pair 0622651 - 6332463)
1954 0099575 - 6356189*
1955 0709364 - 6817579*
1943 unissued 4004237.
1943, 1949 front tabs have no number; 1948, 1950-53 pairs numbered.
(Verify 1942)
"FOLSOM PRISON" stamped on back of 1948-49 and some 1950.
1952 tab 42212 is Trailer.
1945-46 BASE Combined-format letter control. No I,O,Q used.
1945 1A 101 - 9A 99 99,
10 A 101 - 99 A 999,
1B 101 - 21 X 227 (3,499,127 S)
1947-50 BASE Combined-format letter control. No I,O,Q used.
1947 Type 1: Wide dies 1A 101 - 9A 99 99,
10 A 101 - 99 A 999,
1B 101 - 99 X 999,
1Y 101 - 8Y 962 (3,640,176 P)
1949 Type 2: Thin dies,etc.8Y 6 408 - 99 Z 999 (264,402 P)
1949 Type 2a 10A 1 001 - 72B 8 435 (1,375,283 P)
(CAPACITY 5-6-figure 3,910,023 P)
(TOTAL Type 2 1,639,685 P)
(GRAND TOTAL 5,285,306 P)
1951-55 BASE No I,O,Q used except 1955 Type 1b.
1951 Type 1 1A 001 - 9Z 9 999 (CAPACITY 2,069,793 P)
1951 Type 1a 1A 10 001 - 9Z 99 999 (OBSERVED 5,258,436 P)
1955 Type 1b 1Q 001 - 1Q 2 181 (2,181 P)
(TOTAL 7,330,410 P)
Progression unknown; appears to have switched from letter control
to number control at some point.
Type 1 prefix not seen: 3N
Type 1a highest observed: (Short list under 90000 = 3R,3S,8A,9B)
(Those seen 99000 or higher are left blank and assumed issued to 99999)
1A 1B 1C 1N 1P 96658 2P
2A 2B 98860 2C 2N 1R 97058 2R 97604
3A 98435 3B 98523 1D 3N 1S 98974 2S
4A 4B 1E 4N 1T 2T 98867
5A 5B 1F 98396 5N 1U 96593 2U
6A 6B 1G 98288 6N 93944 1V 98457 2V
7A 98458 7B 1H 98809 7N 1W 2W
8A 45206 8B 1J 98707 8N 98782 1X 2X 98072
9B 34883 1K 98907 9N 98822 1Y 2Y
1L 1Z 2Z 97800
1M 98058 3P 97718
2M 98731 3R 83939
3S 50920
KNOWN ISSUE DATES
1951: 5A 27613, 7B 39710, 1J 1001, 8J 101 - 1000, 9J 101 - 1000,
8K 4452, 9N 6810, 9N 93449, 1P 11558, 2P 34153, 5X 6206,
6P 9671, 6X 8327
Fresno assigned 5K 1001 - 9K 9999, 8B 2001 - 8B 9999,
9B 10000 - 9B 35000.
Pomona assigned 1W 1001 - 4W 7000.
1952: 8P 7434, 2U 1868
12/52: 4D 494
1953: 1E 906
12/23/54: 2X 28807
1955: *1Q 2181
1956-62 BASE No I,O,Q used.
1956 Type 1: Steel, tab slots AAA 000 - TAW 751 (8,483,752 P)
1960 Type 2: Alum., tab slots TBD 935 - TLZ 517 (225,583 P)
1960 Type ? (Tab slots) TMA 100
1960 Type 1a TMF 385 -
1960 Type ? (No slots) TMF 649
1960 Type 3: Steel, no slots TMJ 468 - YRT 421 (2,719,954 P)
(TOTAL 11,445,422 P)
Samples: SAM 000, SAM 123. Non-Pass.: VET, VTN, ZZV-ZZZ.
1963-69 BLACK BASE No I,O,Q used in 3rd position.
12-3-62 "63" Steel AAA 000 - ZZY 999 (15,534,000 P)
Sample: SAM 123. Non-Pass.: DPW-DPZ, VET, VTN, VTR, WWW, WXX,
WYY, XXX, XYY, YYY, ZZZ.
Branch office distribution AAA-RDA in County Code Book.
Currently revalidated.
1969-87 BLUE BASE No I,O,Q used in 1st letter position*.
10-6-69 "1969" Type 1 000 AAA - 700 LXU (7,374,701 P)
May 75 "1975" Type 2 701 LXU - 999 WKZ (5,742,299 P)
Dec.77 "DEC 78" Type 3 000 WLA - 999 ZZZ (2,414,000 P)
4-16-80 "OCT 80" Type 3a 1AAA000 - 1CQP896 (1,577,897 P)
Aug.81 "AUG 82" Type 4 1CTH297 - 1SWC463 (7,830,167 P)
(TOTAL 25,000,464 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Steel, thin legend, wide dies, blue back
Type 2 - Aluminum, wide legend, wide dies, blue back
Type 3 - Aluminum, wide legend, thin dies, blue back
Type 4 - As Type 3, but unpainted back
*Types 3a-4: No I,O,Q used in 1st or 3rd letter position.
Non-Pass. Suffixes: DPW-DPZ, RDP, SAM, SDP, TDP, UDP, VDP, VET,
VTN, VTR, WDP, WWW, XDP, YDP, ZDP
Non-Pass. Prefixes: 1DPA-1DPH, 1VET, 1VTA-1VTC
July 1985: Blue/White month stickers introduced.
Currently revalidated.
1983-2023 WHITE BASE No I,O,Q used in 1st/3rd letter position.
12-13-82 "OCT 83" Type 1 2AAA000 - 2GPZ999 (3,955,000 P)
Sep.87 "SEP 88" Type 2 2GQA000 - 2ZZZ999 (9,797,000 P)
Mar.92 "DEC 92" Type 2a 3AAA000 - 3FMG784 (3,272,785 P)
1- 8-94 "MAY 94" Type 3 3GAA000 - 3XZZ999 (8,970,000 P)
2-22-98 "NOV 98" Type 4 4AAA000 - 4NOZ999 (7,521,000 P)
Dec.00 "DEC 01" Type 3a 4NPA000 - 4ZZZ999 (6,233,000 P)
12-21-02 Type 3b 5AAA000 - 5ZZZ999 (13,754,000 P)
7-2-07 "MAY 08" Type 3c 6AAA000 - 6TPV999 (9,932,000 P)
2011 "AUG 12" Type 5 6TPW000 - 6ZZZ999 (3,822,000 P)
2014 Type 5a 7AAA000 - 7ZZZ999 (13,754,000 P)
Sep.17 Type 5b 8AAA000 - 8ZZZ999 (13,754,000 P)
Mar.22 Type 5c 9AAA000 - 9BVY641 (1,102,642 P)
(TOTAL 95,867,427 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Graphic sun design (3,955,000 P)
Type 2 - Embossed "CALIFORNIA" (13,069,785 P)
Type 3 - Script "CALIFORNIA", no slogan (3 legend sizes) (38,889,000 P)
Type 4 - As Type 3, but "SESQUICENTENNIAL - 150 YEARS" added (7,521,000 P)
Type 5 - As Type 3, but "dmv.ca.gov" added (32,432,642 P)
Non-Pass: 2DPA, 2VET.
1983-86: Optional extra-cost issue ($5 initial).
1987-present: General issue, no extra cost.
DMV: 1-800-777-0133 (1 English, 0 Agent)
