ILLINOIS
Highest 1907-11 pre-state known: #38207
Numbering began at 1 each year 1911-67. All numbers reservable
at least by 1926. 1911 plate and disc undated. Dated disc issued
along with plates 1912-17. Truck began 1920. 1-250-000 issued 1927.
NUMERIC SERIES
1911 38055 1928 1-313-133 1945 1512 549*
1912 67198 1929 1-410-891 1946 1610 032
1913 94057 1930 1-418-123 1947 1753-118*
1914 99901 1931 1-411-007 1948 1948 805*
1915 99988 1932 1-300-403 1949 2078 447*
1916 248390 1933 1-277-003* 1950 2286 337
1917 338657 1934 1-284-244 1951 2404 733
1918 388251 1935 1-350-944* 1952 2462 076*
1919 472179 1936 1-474-441* 1953 2580 021
1920 501972 1937 1-569-302* 1954 2699 691*
1921 578548 1938 1578 792* 1955 2848 596
1922 680-792 1939 1638 759* 1956 2979736*
1923 840-683 1940 1722 783* 1957 3074445
1924 976-632 1941 1826 763* 1958 3118894*
1925 1-101-586 1942 1749 341* 1959 3224 011*
1926 1-179-387 1943 1638 851* 1960 3307 067*
1927 1-248-408 1944 1515 183
LETTER SERIES H0001 - Z9999
1914 H,K,P,R R0832 (130,730 P)
1915 H,K,P,R,T,U,X,Y (Z expected) Y9667 (179,648 P)
1934: Chicago branch office began.
1934-35: Official highway map sent with plates.
PRODUCTION FIGURES (#3000000 specially issued 1956)
1919 480,000 P
1920 518,700 P
1924 990,000 P 1933 1,300,000 P 1950 2,300,000 P
1925 1,100,000 P 1934 1,300,000 P
1926 1,200,000 P 1935 1,352,000 P 1951 2,420,000 P
1927 1,255,000 P 1936 1,475,000 P 1952 2,500,000 P
1928 1,315,000 P 1937 1,575,000 P 1953 2,590,000 P
1929 1,415,000 P 1938 1,570,000 P 1954 2,710,000 P
1930 1,475,000 P 1939 1,640,000 P 1955 2,880,000 P
1931 1,425,000 P 1940 1,735,000 P 1956 2,986,000 P
1932 1,400,000 P 1941 1,850,000 P 1957 3,080,000 P
1942 1,750,000 P
1945 1,527,500 P
1946 1,648,700 P
1961-78 FORMATS No I,O,Q,Z used.* No T,U used in 1st position.*
1961-66 1 - 999 999, AA 1000 - WY 9999 (Capacity 4,185,999)
1967 1 - 999 999, AA 100 - WY 9999 (Capacity 4,682,799)
1968-78 0 - 999 999, AA 0 - WY 9999 (Capacity 4,710,000+)
1961 LETTTER PROGRESSION No I,O,Q,Z used.
Series 1: AA-PP (Double letters only) (126,000)
Series 2: AB-KY (Omitting doubles) BM,DL omitted. (1,872,000)
Series 3: LA-NY (Omitting doubles) No R,S,U,V,W used. (432,000)
(TOTAL 3,429,999)
Source: Troy Tribune newspaper article, August 25, 1960.
1964 Order: AA-RD BM, DL, PM omitted (3,600,999 P)
No R,S,U,V,W in 2nd position of LA-WY series.
1972 Order: AA-WY DL, FU, VD omitted (4,970,000 P)
No U,V in 2nd position of LA-WY series.
OMITTED PREFIXES
BM omitted 1961-68, issued 1969-on. (Municipal Bus)
DL omitted all years. (Dealer)
FU issued 1961-71, omitted 1972-on.
PM omitted 1963-68, issued 1969-on. (Permanently Mounted Equipment)
ST omitted 1965-68, issued 1969-on. (Semi Trailer) (Verify 1969)
VD issued 1965-71, omitted 1972-on.
*Letters added as follows:
1967 - R,S,W in 2nd position in LA-WY series, including RR,SS,WW.
1969 - T in 1st position.
1973 - U in 1st position.
1975 - Y in 1st position.
1976 - Z in 1st position.
1961 NP 6500 (3,399,500*)
1962 PH 7207 (3,499,207*)
1963 RD 5972 (3,596,972)
1964 SD 6234 (3,750,234)
1965 VE 5069 (3,911,069*) (VN listed in Wheel Tax book)
1966 WG 3587 (4,080,587)
1967 SK 1505 (4,228,805*) (plus VF 2500 - VF 7838, WA 2824)
1968 SW 8636 (4,348,637) (plus VF 672 seen on DAV tag)
1969 TP 3198 (4,523,199*) (plus VF 426 - VF 4861)
1970 TX 2922 (4,572,923*) (plus VF 8092)
1971 VT 8002 (4,758,003*) (Plain 0 added)
1972 WX 2838 (4,952,839*) (Plain 00, 000, 0000 added)
1973 UX 1840 (5,151,841*)
1974 UY 9999 (5,170,000) (plus YS 6766)
AAA 100 - AML 471 added (207,372*) (assuming no I,O,Q,U,V,Z)
1975 YT (5,330,001) (plus IN, KZ, LZ, OB, QC, QY, SV, YK 3605)
1976 ZS 165 (5,520,166*) (QC = Quad Cities)
1977 ZM 1495 (5,481,496) (plus OA, OF, OX, YB, BZ)
1978 ZG 6047 (5,436,048) (plus ON, QD, YR, JZ, MZ)
1979-84 BASE All letters used*.
1979 "SEP 79" Type 1 0 - 999 999 (1,000,000 P)
1979 "SEP 79" Type 1a AA 0 - ZY 9999 (4,570,000 P)
Nov.79 "NOV 80" Type 1b-3 (Previously omitted letters)(2,160,000 P)
Type 1 "NOV 80" IC 3006, OP 7391, OW 284, WZ 5370, ZZ 1499
Type 2 "4 82" AQ 9842 - HQ 1802, IF 9926
Type 3 "9 81 " JQ 4549 - ZQ 1473, IA 8145, IK 2331 - IY 9996,
AZ 1160 - RZ 8322, XZ 8823
Apr.82 "4 83" Type 3a XAA 0 - ZZZ 999 (2,028,000 P)
Dec.82 "12 83" Type 3b PXJ 784 - PZU 145 (62,362 P)
Apr.83 "4 84" Type 3c NVG 566 - NZU 30 (117,465 P)
(TOTAL 9,937,827 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Dated "79", square corners, Texas dies
Type 2 - Undated, square corners, Texas dies
Type 3 - Undated, round corners, Illinois dies
*Type 1a: 1976 letters assumed used.
Types 1b-3: IA-IZ, OA-OZ, QA-QZ, XA-XZ, AI-ZI, AO-ZO, AQ-ZQ,
LU-ZU, LV-ZV, AZ-ZZ.
Types 3a-3c: All letters used. (Some personalized issued earlier)
Replaced 1984-86 as follows: 1984 - 0 - 999 999
1985 - AA-MZ, AAA-MZZ
1986 - NA-ZZ, NAA-ZZZ
1983-2002 BASE All letters used.*
Aug.83 "DEC 83" Type 1 0 - 999 999 (1,000,000 P)
Type 1a AA 0 - ZZ 9999 (6,760,000 P)
Type 1b AAA 0 - PRM 616 (10,594,617 P)
Type 2 PSE 696 - ZZZ 999 (6,963,304 P)
Sep.95 "SEP 96" Type 2a B 0 - Z 99 999 (900,000 P)
Jul.96 "DEC 96" Type 3 B 100 000 - Y 624 927 (5,924,928 P)
2001 "07-02" Type 4 Y62 5616 - Y67 6125 (50,510 P)
(TOTAL 32,212,126 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Dated "83/85, 84/86", small (3" Illinois) legends
Type 2 - Undated, large legends (3 3/8" Illinois), wide dies
Type 3 - Undated, large legends, narrow dies
Type 4 - As Type 3, but new spacing (change reported at Y62 5000)
(Reported: Y 506 000 no hologram, Y65 0000 - Y70 0000 hologram)
Type 1: AAA 100 - AYB 184 issued first to new registrants.
*Type 2a letters used: B,C,D,F,J,S,T,Y,Z
Type 3 letters used: B,C,D,F,J, T,Y
Type 2a formats: B 0 - B 9999, B 10 000 - B 99 999
Previous formats still issued as of 1999.
Replaced August 2001 to July 2002.
T sticker issued in some cases.
2002-19 LINCOLN PORTRAIT BASE
7-11-01 "08-02" Type 1 100 0001 - 999 9999 (8,999,999 P)
4-6-06 "12-07" Type 1a G10 0001 - Q99 9999 (12,899,986 P)
10-17-16 "08-17" Type 1b ZZ1 1001 - ZU9 3000 (no ZW) (437,996 P)
(TOTAL 22,337,981 P)
Type 1a letters used: G,X,A,H,K,L,N,P,R,S,V,E,Y*,Z,Q. (No I,M,O,U,W)
*Y only Y70 0000 - Y99 9999
Type 1b: Prefixes progress backwards, number progress forwards.
Renewals received previous formats (0 - 999 999, AA 0 - ZZ 9999,
AAA 0 - ZZZ 999, B 0 - Z99 999, B00 0000 - Y99 9999) unless
registrants signed a form to the contrary. New registrations
issued 100 0001 series. For vehicle transfers, registrants may
keep their old number for a fee or be issued a new number at no
charge. Therefore, old combinations have become increasingly
scarce. Dealer-issue series began 11/19/2004 at 900 0001.
2017-20 NEW LINCOLN BASE No I,O used. BJ,BS omitted.
11-?-16 "11-17" Type 1 AA1 1001 - AF9 9999 (533,994 P)
1-3-17 Type 2 AG 11001 - AP 76000 (687,993 P)
3-1-18 "02-19" Type 3 AP 76001 - CD 80519 (3,204,483 P)
(TOTAL 4,426,470 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Dark gray jacket, old spacing
Type 2 - Dark gray jacket, new spacing
Type 3 - Light gray jacket
Before Type 3 issued, random 6-digit plates issued off-center right
to use up old sheeting, whereas remakes for renewals are centered.
