COLORADO
ASSIGNMENT OBSERVED ASSIGNED C*
1913 1 - ? 14357 ?
1914 1 - ? 14196, ?
15264 - 19993
1915 1 - ? 18923, ?
20241 - 28953
1916 1 - 12000, 12814 - 13617 35,000 57
15001 - 33000, 33549
38001 - 43000 46504
1917 1 - 50000 67567 50,000 57
1918 1 - 90-000 89-948, 90,000* 28
101-516 - 101-523
1919-20 1 - 232-500 232-954 106,770* 34
1920 233-111
1921 1 - ? 178-144 ?
1922 1 - 193-900 193-306 155,410* 28
1923 1 - 187-000 191-622 167,300 30
1924 1 - 240-800 240-543 197,050 11
300-073 - 302-001
1925 1 - 274-500 273-744 237,800* 8
1926 1 - 278-800 276-181 253,750* 8
1927 1 - 308-150 307-232 263,750* ?
1928 1 - ? 313-468 ?
1929 1 - ? 325-541 ?
1930 1 - 33-75-00 34-31-07 295,700* 13
1931 1 - 389-000 388-320 313,300* 2
C* = Number of counties exceeding blocks. (1931 - Eagle & Kiowa)
COUNTY ASSIGNMENTS
1916-17, 1919-20, 1922-27, 1931 in Colorado Book,
1918 on file, 1930 on Branch Offices page.
1913-15, 1921, 1928-29 are unknown. Known blocks:
1913: Denver 1 - 7000
El Paso 8354 - ?
Larimer 9965 - at least 10264
1914: Fremont 8149 - ?
1915: Larimer 11892 - 12891?
1921: Pueblo 59-001 - ?
Crowley 103-401 - ?
Delta 105-001 - 106-700
Larimer 125-801 - 132-200
1928: Boulder 174-401 - 184-400
Larimer 234-601 - 245-100
1929: Larimer 247-501 - 260-000
COUNTY ORDER 1919-31 (1921, 1928-29 unknown)
1918: Denver, El Paso, followed by remaining 60 counties alphabetically.
1919-31 (Except 1923-24): Denver, El Paso, Pueblo, Weld, followed
by remaining 59 counties alphabetically.
Dolores not assigned until 1922.
1923-24: Denver, El Paso, Pueblo, Weld, Larimer, followed by
remaining 58 counties alphabetically.
NON-PASSENGER BLOCKS
Dealer: 1913 14489 - 15015
1914 14301 - 15143
1915 19009 - 20089
1916 36001 - 37985
Visitor: 1918 90-001 - 98-291
ADDITIONAL NOTES
1917: 49701 - 49750 not listed. 68000 highest ordered.
1918-22: #0 issued to Secretary of State.
1919-31 blocks have gaps after them except: 1919-20 Sedgwick,
1922-23 El Paso, 1924 Denver and Conejos, and 1927 Dolores,
Hinsdale and Jackson. Denver assigned an additional 10,000
numbers in 1920. Plates observed between blocks 1919-23 only.
Registrations exceeding maximum space:
1916 8,417 1923 5,951 (12 counties)
1917 16,966 1924 2,709 (Denver)
1918 5,069 (28 counties) 1925 81 (Arapahoe)
1919-20 70 (Prowers)
TABS 1919-20 1919 has matching serial number; 1920 has none.
Tab insert letter indicates horsepower and/or fee:
1919 HORSEPOWER FEE 1920 FEE
A 41+ $10.00 G over $10.00 - $20.00
B 21-40 $5.00 H over $5.00 - $10.00
C 1-20 $2.50 I $5.00
(D,E,F = Truck) S over $20.00
1932-53 FORMATS 1-1 - 9-99-999 66, 67, 75, 90 = Sample.
10-1 - 63-9-999 Second hyphen dropped 1933.
County codes on County Code page.
1944, 1952 Tabs are also county coded.
7-DIGIT PLATES
HIGHEST NUMBER EXPECTED PER INITIAL-YEAR REGISTRATION FIGURES (*or
observed number if higher):
DENVER ARAPAHOE JEFFERSON ADAMS TOTAL
1939 (10-9982) 11-10403* (404 P)
1940 (1-94620) 10-10827 11-11019 (1,848 P)
1941 1-104850* 10-12122 11-12178 (9,153 P)
1942 1-104999* 10-12843 11-12363 (10,218 P)
1943-44 1-102401* 10-11411 11-11704* (5,519 S)
1945 (1-85902) 10-11514* 11-10719* (2,235 S)
1946 (1-95481) 10-12592 11-12410 (5,004 S)
1947 1-101893 10-13662 11-13932 (12-8660) (9,490 P)
1948 1-112950* 10-14562 11-16007* 12-10125 (23,648 P)
1949 1-121097* 10-17041 11-18185 12-11586 (37,913 P)
1950 1-137496* 10-19883 11-21401 12-13640 (62,424 P)
1951-52 1-188533* 10-31969* 11-31712* 12-21456* (143,674 P)
1953 1-161161* 10-31367* 11-31269* 12-18805* (112,606 P)
1954 FORMATS No C,E,G,I,L,M,O,Q,T,U,W,X used.
Denver County: 1-1 - 1-9999
A1-1 - Z1-9999 126,000+ 23.2%
1A-1 - 1Z-9999 18,000+ 3.3%
Counties 2 - 9: 2-1 - 2-9999 83,943= 15.5%
A2-1 - Z2-999 78,420= 14.5%
2A-1 - 2Z-999 36,006= 6.6%
Counties 10 - 63: 10-1 - 10-9999 145,143 26.8%
A10-1 - Z10-999 38,382 7.1%
10A-1 - 10Z-999 16,374 3.0%
(226 prefixes) TOTAL 542,268*
+ counting 1000 - 9999 only
= including Denver County
1954-58: County codes same as 1932-53 except Denver 1956-58.
1955 FORMATS No I,O,Q,T seen.
Counties 1 - 9: A/1 1 - W/1 9999 361,562 62.2%
Counties 10 - 63: A/10 1 - D/10 9999 219,576 37.8%
(102 prefixes) TOTAL 581,138*
1956 FORMATS No E,I,M,O,Q,T,W used except E/11.
Denver: A:1 - Z:9999 189,979 31.1%
Counties 2 - 9: 2:1 - 2:99999 183,468 30.1%
Counties 10 - 12: A/10 1 - Z/10 9999 113,408 18.5%
Counties 13 - 63: 13:1 - 13:9999 124,348 20.3%
(90 prefixes) TOTAL 611,203*
1957 FORMATS
Denver County: 1001 - 9999 8,999 1.4%
10000 - 99999 90,000 13.9%
100-000 - 299-999 102,300 15.8%
Counties 2 - 9: 2-1001 - 2-9999 68,374 10.6%
2-10000 - 2-99999 123,935 19.1%
Counties 10 - 13, 15: A/10 1001 - F/10 9999 143,545 22.1%
Counties 14, 16 - 63: 14-1001 - 14-9999 110,709 17.1%
(75 prefixes) TOTAL 647,862*
1958 FORMATS No I,O,Q used.
Denver County: A/A 1 - N/R 999+ 211,950 30.9%
Counties 2 - 9: 2 1 - 2 999 7,992 1.2%
2/A 1 - 2/Z 999 147,500 21.5%
A/2 1 - Z/2 999 44,544 6.5%
Extra El Paso: 4/AA 1 - 4/DD 999= 3,415 0.5%
Counties 10 - 63: 1/0 1 - 1/0 999 50,351 7.3%
10/A 1 - 10/Z 999 160,117 23.3%
A/10 1 - Z/10 999 55,436 8.1%
Extra Jefferson: 11/AA 1 - 11/FF 999= 5,019 0.7%
(719 prefixes) TOTAL 686,324*
+ AA-AZ, BB-BZ, CC-CZ, etc.
= AA, BB, CC, etc.
HIGHEST NUMBER EXPECTED PER REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR THOSE COUNTIES
USING LETTER SERIES (1954, 1956-57) OR ISSUING BEYOND "A" (1955)
(*or observed number if higher):
COUNTY 1954 1955 1956 1957
Denver 1D-665* W/1 18* Z:9997* 202-299*
Pueblo 2P-544 D/2 5214
Weld 3A-222 C/3 4950
El Paso 4Z-275 E/4 9198*
Larimer K6-973 B/6 8043
Boulder S7-83 C/7 1463
Mesa J8-441 B/8 8536
Arapahoe 10N-591 D/10 4433 D/10 7061 E/10 6424*
Jefferson 11P-798 D/11 9000* E/11 2059 F/11 5950*
Adams S12-420 C/12 4921 D/12 4298* D/12 8759*
Logan B/13 1241*
Morgan A/15 9184
1958 HIGHEST NUMBER EXPECTED PER REGISTRATION FIGURES (*or observed
number if higher):
N/R 162* P/12 893 23/D 45* 34/A 508 45/A 542* 5/6 691
S/2 641 13/H 201 24/D 802 35/A 848* 46/A 146* 57/A 200
C/3 619 14/H 204* 25/B 94 36/A 466 47/B 300* 58/A 251*
4/DD 418 15/H 382* 26/B 963* 37/A 924 4/8 795 5/9 915
5/F 437* 16/B 311 27/B 896* 38/A 135* 49/B 99* 6/0 567*
6/W 704 17/D 690 28/B 732 39/A 685 50/A 51* 6/1 999*
D/7 7* 18/F 16 29/B 339 40/B 599* 51/A 575 6/2 212
A/8 555* 19/D 204* 30/C 145 41/C 918* 5/2 678* 6/3 143
9/H 505 20/H 1* 31/C 501* 42/B 672 53/A 835*
V/10 597* 21/F 338 32/F 890* 43/A 346* 5/4 995* (TOTAL
11/FF 24* 22/B 497* 33/B 259* 44/A 694 5/5 400* 686,604*P)
1959-74 AA-1 - ZN-9999 County codes on County Code page.
Order same as 1932-58. No I,O,Q used. RR, DR-DW = Rental.
(Highest number expected per initial-year registration figures for
those counties exceeding first prefix - see Misc. 1)
1975-76 CENTENNIAL BASE Formats and county codes same as 1959-74.
1975 Type 1: Graphic, old dies (2,109 P)
1975 Type 2: Graphic, new dies (Types 1-2 1,738,623 P)
Aug.76 Type 3: Non-graphic, old dies (76,766 P)
(TOTAL 1,834,491 P)
Type 1: ZA-52 - ZA-984, ZE-5 - ZE-336, ZH-21 - ZH-731, ZM-21 - ZM-153
Type 2: AA-1 - YY-391, ZB-667, ZD-651, ZE-588, ZF-91 - ZF-120, ZG-358,
ZJ-5, ZK-10, ZL-3566, ZN-23, ZP-864
Type 3: (46 counties verified, see below; also reissue PZ-77)
1976 Sticker has 1932-58 county number prefix, with leading zero on
#01 - 09.
(1975-76 Centennial Base by County and Type - see Misc. 2)
1977-2000 MOUNTAIN BASE 2-letter county codes same as 1959-76.
1977 Undated Type 1 AA-1 - ZN-9999
Aug.78 "AUG 79" Type 2 BU-2479 - YT-8856 (15 counties seen)
Jan.81 "JAN 82" Type 3 FH-7935 -
Apr.82 "APR 83" Type 1a AAA-001 - WWJ-999
1992 Type 4 ECE-999 - VXY-612
7-1-92 "5 93" Type 4a AAA1000 - WVV9999
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Wide dies, aluminum, gray back
Type 2 - Wide dies, steel, green back (1,2,3,4,6,7,10,11,12,
Type 3 - Wide dies, aluminum, green back 14,22,28,32,44,47)
Type 4 - Thin dies, aluminum, gray back
(6-figures center- or margin-justified)
1982-2000 3-letter county codes on Misc. 3 page.
No I,O,Q used. I and O added 1993 and 1996, respectively, in 3rd
position only, starting at 0001 when reached in sequence.
Zero die changed with introduction of "O" in 1996.
County names printed on all 1979, some 1978 and 1980 stickers.
Discontinued 1/4/2000, but currently revalidated. Some were still
issued for a few more years whenever supplies of 2000-09 base run out.
(1977-2000 Mountain Base by county and type - see Misc. 3)
2000-24 NEW MOUNTAIN BASE No Q used until 2013.
1-4-2000 "11 00" First lot 001-AAA - 057-AKZ (273,783 P)
Subsequent lots up to 999-ZZZ
2013 "8 14" (Q all places) 001-AAQ - 999-ZZQ
2015 "5 16" QAA-001 - QZZ-999, RAA-001 - ?
2016 "4 17" (O,Q all pos.) AAO-001 - ZZQ-999
2017 BMK-001?- DZZ-999
12/3/18 "11 19" AAZ-A00 - ZZZ-Z99
First assignment mostly alphabetical AAA-AHD.
Truck starts at ALA, ends at JJY.
Light trucks issued passenger plates starting in mid-2003.
OPTIONAL GRAPHIC BASES: ($25 extra annual fee)
1989-93 DESIGNER BASE A1A-001 - Z9N-999 No I,O,Q used.
1-3-89 "8 89" Type 1: Wide dies, white back
Type 2: Wide dies, unpainted back
Sep.91 "9 92" Type 3: Thin dies, unpainted back
(TOTAL 95,812 P)
County codes in County Code Book. (149 prefixes)
Discontinued 7/1/1992, but currently revalidated.
1993-2000 DENIM BASE A1A1000 - Z9N9999 No O,Q used.
7-1-92 "7 93" Type 1: Unpainted back
1993 "3 94" Type 2: Painted back
County codes are continuation of Designer Base.
Prefixes containing I start at 0001.
Discontinued 1/4/2000, but currently revalidated.
2000-24 NEW DESIGNER BASE No Q used until 2013.
1-4-2000 "11 00" 699-AWI - 311-AWU (10,602 P)
Motorcycle AVV, Collector Vehicle AXT.
Subsequent assignments also issued.
