DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Highest 1903-07 pre-state plate known: #2272
#2463 highest issued as of 9/30/1907.
1907-17 UNDATED BASE - OBSERVED PLATES TOTAL GAP
10/8/07 Type 1 1 - 2500 (2,500) 182
Feb.09 Type 2 3282 - 4163 (reportedly began 3101) (882) 698
Jan.10 Type 3 4862 - 4999, 6000 - 9942 (4,081) 202
Oct.11 Type 4 10145 - 11399, 13000 - 19840 (8,096) 127
Dec.13 Type 5 19968 - 27417 (7,450) 158
May 15 Type 6 27576 - 31117 (3,542) 317
Oct.15 Type 7 31435 - 62380, 64180 (30,947)
(TOTAL 59,181)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - 1/2" high legend, Lamb & Tilden (D.C.) mark, high "4"
Type 2 - As Type 1, but "98" on white back, grommets, low "4", slots offset from legend
Type 3 - As Type 2, but slots above legend, Balt. seal
Type 4 - As Type 2, but longer base (Balt. seal #10377 - 19840)
Type 5 - 1" high legend, white back, thick dies (Balt. seal #20047 - 27417)
Type 6 - As Type 5, but thin dies, Ing-Rich stamp
Type 7 - As Type 5, but black back, no mark (made in Baltimore)
The Washington Post, February 12, 1910: "Permit Clerk Woodard,
of the District, announces that the new license tags have come.
The numbers range from 4,844 to 5,000, and from 6,000 up."
Numbers assigned in bold 1918-26:
PASSENGER HIRE LOST DEALER
1918 1 - 38-079* (none) X-501 - X-600 (see below)
1919 1 - 1-323, 4-103 - 45-455* (none) (X) D2-013 -
1920 1 - 999, 4-000 - 54-343* H-1-000 - H-2-499 X-2-500 - X-3-199 D3-200 - D3-999
1921 7-401 - 67-118* H-1-112 - (X) D4-293 - D4-977
1922 1 - 471, 8-059 - 81-339* H-2-195 - H-4-130 (X) D5-541 - D5-771
LIVERY
1923 1 - 1-999, 6-500 - 111-959* H-2-000 - H-4-499 L-4-500 - L-5-499 D5-500 - D6-499
1924 1 - 1-199, 8-813 - 90-474
1925 1 - 776, 2-484 - 118-901*
1926 1 - 188, 4-289 - 111-544* 909 -
1-978
1918: Dealers assigned passenger plates 2-500 - 2-799.
1922: H82-491 - H82-553 also seen, 82-870 reported.
1923: Numbers ordered up to 120-000.
1924: Reciprocity reached between DC and MD, fewer plates issued.
1927-34 FORMATS 1 - 1000, Letters verified listed below.
E-1 - Z-9999 Non-Pass.: A,B,C,D,H,L*,R,S*,X*
1930 1001 - 9999 added
*S = Passenger 1927, Non-Pass. by 1933
*L, X = Non-Pass. 1927, Passenger by 1933
(1931 L-627, X-16, 1932 L-655 seen)
O listed 1927 but not seen.
1927 E F G J K - M P Q S U V - V 900 (101,890*P)
1928 E F G J K M N P S T U V W W-8100 (129,088*P)
1929 E F G J K M N - S T U V W Y Z Z-8198 (139,185*P)
1930 E F G J K M N P - S T U V W Y Z Z-4894 (154,879*P)
1931 E F G J K M N P - S T U V W Y Z Z-2829 (152,814 P)
1932 E F G J K M N P - S T U V W W-1141 (131,128 P)
1933 E F G J K L M N P - - T U V W X X-3629 (143,615*P)
1934 E F G J K L M N P - - T U V W X X-2358 (142,344 P)
1935 - 3-31-48 FORMATS 1 - 9-999, (9999 1936-48)
45-001+/- - 299-999
NON-PASS. PASSENGER
1935 38-464 57-943 - 190-377 (142,434 P)
1936 52-070 54-623 - 201-965 (157,342 P)
1937 42-101 46-000 - 193-024 (157,024 P)
1938 17-561 46-174 - 181-798 (145,624 P)
2-29-40 44-907 46-188 - 178-450 (142,262 P)
3-31-41 12-051 50-498 - 182-977 (142,479 P)
3-31-42 21-022 46-828 - 189-855 (153,027 P)
3-31-43 19-834 50-129 - 215-478 (175,349 P)
3-31-46 20-160 45-173 - 135-484 (100,311*S) (#143-812 restamped
3-31-47 34-102 50-915 - 180-611 (139,696 P) as 3-31-47 Taxi)
(3-31) 44 TAB 40018 - 125451 (85,434 P)
(3-31) 45 TAB 46062 - 108613 (62,552 P)
(3-31) 48 TAB 41424 - 166601 (125,178 P)
1948 - 3-31-55 FORMATS No I,O,Q,X used.
1 - 9999, No F used 1951 only. (Verify 1950)
1-1000 - 9-9999, Non-Pass.: B,C,D,G*,H,L,M,R,T.
A-1 - Z-9999 *1948-51 only.
(1954) AA-1 - AZ-999 (No S expected 1952)
1948 A E F - J K N N-5161 (146,155 P)
1949 A E F - J K N P P-6930 (157,923 P)
1950 A E F - J K N P S S-4771 (165,763 P)
1951 A E - - J K N P S S-1756 (152,749 P)
1952 A E F G J K N P - P-257 (161,249 P)
3-31-54 A E F G J K N P S U V W Y Z AB-334 (232,318 P)
(3-31) 55 TAB 86 - 202113 (202,028*P)
3-31-56 - 3-31-57 FORMATS No F,I,O,Q,Z used.
Reserved 1 - 1000 K omitted 3-31-57.
Standard AA-10-00 - EY-99-99 Non-Pass.: BA-DZ, HA-HZ, LA-LZ.
3-31-56 EA-83-11 (197,312*P) 3-31-57: CC-20-01 - CC-99-99
3-31-57 EA-94-40 (189,441*P) authorized for issue as passenger.
3-31-58 - 3-31-64 FORMATS No F,I,O,Q used.
Reserved 1 - 1200 No T,U,V seen in 1st position.
(increased to 1250 3-31-61) Non-Pass.: BA-DZ, HA-HZ, LA-LZ.
Standard AA-100 - ZZ-999
3-31-58 SZ-727 (198,928*P)
3-31-59 WD-248 (202,049*P)
3-31-60 WK-930 (207,231*P)
3-31-61 WP-999 (210,950*P)
3-31-62 WV-835 (215,286*P)
3-31-63 XA-155 (219,106*P)
3-31-64 XK-880 (227,031*P)
3-31-65 No F,I,O,Q used.
1A101 - 9Z999, (178,002 P)
1A01 - 4T25 (13,810 P)
(TOTAL 191,812 P)
3-31-65 - 66: Numbers progress before letters, regardless of
position.
3-31-66 No F,I,O,Q used. No V seen.
1AA01 - 2MH69 (TOTAL 203,343*P)
3-31-67 SLOGAN AT BOTTOM BASE Steel.
1966 "3-31-67" Type 1: Dated "67" 100-001 - 300-000 (201,250 P)
1967 "3-31-68" Type 2: Undated 300-001 - 367-444 (67,444 P)
(TOTAL 268,694 P)
Replaced March 1968.
Stickers 1968-MAY 1988: Last 3 digits match plate number for new
registrations only. Dropped by OCT 1988.
1969-74 UNDATED SLOGAN AT TOP BASE
1968(no sticker) Type 1: Aluminum 500-001 - 960-058 (460,058 P)
1973 "3-31-74" Type 2: Steel 970-126 - 994-037 (23,912 P)
Jan.74 "3-31-74" Type 2a? (400-001 reported)
(TOTAL 494,037 P)
Replaced March 1974.
1975-79 U.S. BICENTENNIAL BASE
1974 "3-31-75" Type 1: Dated "75" 100-001 - 337-180 (237,180 P)
1975 "3-31-76" Type 2: Undated 340-359 - 500-000 (159,642 P)
(TOTAL 400,000 P)
Replaced March 1982? 101-000 series seen with "NOV 84" sticker.
According to OCT-84 ALPCA P.203, 100-001 - 400-000 replaced 10/84
to 9/85, 400-001 - 925-000? replaced 10/85 to 9/86.
1979-85 NATION'S CAPITAL BASE
1978 "3-31-79" Type 1: Unptd back 500-001 - 619-527 (119,527 P)
1980 "3-31-81" Type 2: Green back 633-645 - 734-626 (100,982 P)
1981 "3-31-82" Type 1a 737-333 - 925-000 (187,668 P)
(TOTAL 425,000 P)
3-31 (79) Month sticker pre-applied.
Replaced October 1985 to March 1987, but see above report.
1985-91 CAPITAL CITY BASE
Nov.84 "OCT 85" 925-001 - 999-999 (74,999 P)
Oct.85 "SEP 86" 010-001 - 500-955 (490,955 P)
(TOTAL 565,954 P)
Bolt holes or slots used intermittently.
103-763 no security mark, 135-517 "MAY 87" has "86" security mark.
925-001 - 999-999 reportedly issued to new registrations,
010-001 - ? issued to renewals. Currently revalidated.
1991-98 CELEBRATE & DISCOVER AT TOP BASE
Sep.90 "AUG 91" 501-846 - 853-040 (351,195 P)
Currently revalidated.
1992-2008 D.C. BICENTENNIAL BASE Optional extra-cost issue.
Mar.92 "DEC 92" 200-AAA - 200-OYZ (10,114 P)
Only number 200 used, in honor of Bicentennial.
Letters not seen, by position: 1st - J, 2nd - R, 3rd - Q
1998-2024 SLOGAN AT BOTTOM BASE No I,O,Q* used.
Apr.97 "JUN 98" Type 1 AA-0000 - AY-8223 (208,224 P)
11- 4-00 "NOV 01" Type 2 (no BB) AZ-0000 - BG-1886 (61,887 P)
May 01 "FEB 02" Type 3 BB-0000 - BB-1849 (1,850 P)
10-19-01 "OCT 02" Type 4 (no BJ) BG-2033 - BP-1145 (59,113 P)
9- 5-02 "MAR 03" Type 5 BJ-0466 - BJ-8666 (8,201 P)
11-19-02 UND. Type 6 (no EA) BP-1509 - EJ-9990 (598,482 P)
2012 UND. Type 7 EA-0138 - EA-4014 (3,877 P)
2014 UND. Type 8 EK-0008 - FN-3113 (263,105 P)
2017 UND. Type 9 FN-4251 - JF-3888 (349,638 P)
(TOTAL 1,583,589 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Embossed, "Celebrate & Discover"
Type 2 - Embossed, "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION"
Type 3 - Embossed, "WWW.Washingtondc.gov"
Type 4 - Flat, "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION"
(Garst reports change at BG-2000)
Type 5 - Flat, "www.washingtondc.gov" (BK-1040 also reported)
Type 6 - As Type 4, but block legend "WASHINGTON,DC" at top,
not script
Type 7 - As Type 5, but "www.dc.gov"
Type 8 - As Type 6, but "DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA"
Type 9 - As Type 8, but "END" added at beginning of slogan
*AI,AO,AQ,GI issued. EO-2840 unissued seen.
Prefixes omitted: AP,AS,AT,AU,CL,DC,DV,DW,FU,HA-HZ
Prefixes not seen: GW,GX,GY,GZ
Windshield stickers began 4/22/02, so very few 2004 plate stickers
issued ("MAR 04" seen). BL-6120 highest seen with plate stickers;
BL-6329 lowest seen without plate stickers. 2 new stickers issued
for each plate, with legend "SEE WINDOW STICKER".
RESERVED SERIES #1 - 1250: (#1251+ = Personalized)
1964-65: Annual plates, dated "3-31-65" through "3-31-66".
1966-67: Dated "3-31-67", steel, revalidated with 1968 sticker.
1968-69: Undated aluminum, revalidated with 1970 sticker.
1969: New registrations issued steel "3-31-70" plates.
1970-73: Annual plates, dated "3-31-71" through "3-31-74".
"3-31-71" is aluminum, others are steel.
1974: U.S. Bicentennial design, dated "3-31-75".
1975-77: U.S. Bicentennial design, annual plates, undated, with
stickers "3-31-76" to "3-31-78".
1978-84: Nation's Capital design, annual plates, undated, with
stickers "3-31-79" to "MAR 85".
1985-90: Capital City design, annual plates, undated, with
stickers "MAR 86" to "MAR 91". 1985-88, 1990 plates
feature two larger shields flanking number. 1989
plates feature two normal-size shields flanking
number.
1991-97: Celebrate & Discover design, annual plates, undated,
with stickers "MAR 92" to "MAR 98". Plates feature
two normal-size shields flanking number.
1998-2000: Same as 1991-97, but slogan at bottom, "MAR 99" to
"MAR 01".
