ILLINOIS
Highest 1907-11 pre-state known: #38207
Numbering began at 1 each year 1911-67. Numbers in bold are highest
listed in state wheel books on microfilm at Illinois State Archives.
Highest numbers listed in state wheel book microfilm index:
1918 389135 (Nov.), 1923 846-514, 1925 1-101-600, plus custom numbers
1937 1-600-000, 1-666-666, 1-700-000, 1939 1666 666, 1700 000,
1728 000, 1750 000, 1888 888, 2000 000 (#2000 000 may have had
no space, or was possibly a longer plate), 1950 2278839, plus 2278888,
2278893, 2280000 - 2286815, 1957 3075700, plus 3080388,
1958 3140998, plus 3145000, 3149960, 3168562, 3253022,
1959 3230 000, 1960 3309 924.
All numbers reservable at least by 1920. 1911 plate and disc undated.
Dated disc issued along with plates 1912-17. Truck began 1920.
1934-35: Official highway map sent with plates.
Chicago branch office assignments began 1934 and, through 1960,
included the odd hundred thousand blocks such as 300-000 - 399-999,
500-000 - 599-999, etc. Towards the end of each year, blocks were
filled in statewide so as to not waste plates. The exception was in
1943, when the downturn in registrations resulted in leftover plates,
reissued as Montana 1944 plates.
Also seen: 1946 #1681 747, 1956 #3000000.
NUMERIC SERIES PRODUCTION NUMERIC SERIES PRODUCTION
1911 38055 1936 1-474-441* 1,475,000
1912 68012 1937 1-570-099* 1,575,000
1913 94057 1938 1578 792* 1,570,000
1914 99999 1939 1639 210* 1,640,000
1915 99999 1940 1722 783* 1,735,000
1916 248429 1941 1837 693* 1,850,000
1917 340292 1942 1749 341* 1,750,000
1918 388251 1943 1638 851* (see below)
1919 478434 480,000 1944 1515 183
1920 501972 518,700 1945 1512 549* 1,527,500
1921 578548 1946 1610 032 1,648,700
1922 680-792 1947 1753-118*
1923 840-683 1948 1948 805*
1924 978-361 990,000 1949 2078 447
1925 1-101-586 1,100,000 1950 2286 337 2,300,000
1926 1-179-387 1,200,000 1951 2419 588* 2,420,000
1927 1-250-702 1,255,000 1952 2462 076* 2,500,000
1928 1-313-133 1,315,000 1953 2588 436* 2,590,000
1929 1-410-891 1,415,000 1954 2699 691* 2,710,000
1930 1-418-123 1,475,000 1955 2848 596 2,880,000
1931 1-411-007 1,425,000 1956 2980673* 2,986,000
1932 1-306-529 1,400,000 1957 3074445 3,080,000
1933 1-277-003* 1,300,000 1958 3134184+
1934 1-284-244 1,300,000 1959 3224 011*
1935 1-350-944* 1,352,000 1960 3307 067*
LETTER SERIES H0000 - Z9999
1914 H,K,P,R R1140 (131,140 P)
1915 H,K,P,R,T,U,X,Y,Z Z0832 (180,832 P)
1943 ILLINOIS MONTANA 1944
Chicago 1548 398 1554 636 - 1597 535
Springfield 1638 851 1643 092 - 1648 990
(TOTAL 1,587,250)
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 (IL) Tribune, 8/25/1960.
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 100 - 9999 to VFW members, WA 2824)
1968 SX 9080 (4,359,081*) (plus VF)
1969 TP 3198 (4,523,199*) (plus VF)
1970 TX 2922 (4,572,923*) (plus VF)
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 1712 - 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 4599, OB 8592, 10,000 QC, QY 4367, SV,
YH 4716, YJ 2376, YK 3605, YN 7070, YP 4950, YR 4251)
1976 ZS 165 (5,520,166*) KZ 2149 (plus MZ = Mt. Zion, QC-QD = Quad Cities, QY = Quincy)
1977 ZM 1495 (5,481,496) (plus OA, OF, OX, YB, BZ)
1978 ZP 7308 (5,507,309) (plus ON, OP 3555, 10,000 QC, 5,000 QD, JZ)
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, OA 20, OP 7391, OW 284, QC 593, QD 902, QY 8115,
LU 9922, SU 4558, LZ 2819, WZ 5370, ZZ 1499
Type 2 "4 82" AQ 9842 - HQ 1802, IF 9926 (ID 1721 - 8108, OD 6710, OM 2783 T.1?)
Type 3 "11 81" TV 3573
Type 4 "9 81" IA 1057 - IZ 7592 (no IC,ID,IF,IN?),
OE 8883 - OZ 4325 (no OA?,OB?,OF?,OM,ON?,OP,OW,OX?),
QE 6755 - QZ 4290 (no QC,QD,QY),
XA 4921 - XZ 8823,
AI 1755 - MI 9316, AO 3002 - KO 4008, JQ 4549 - ZQ 1473 (verify IQ),
ZU 6147, AZ 444 - TZ 6696
(skipping prefixes issued in Types 1-3)
Apr.82 "4 83" Type 4a XAA 0 - ZSU 235 (1,840,236 P)
Type 5 ZWV 643 -
Mar.83 "3 84" Type 4b ZXD 840 - ZXL 98 (7,259 P)
Dec.82 "12 83" Type 4c PXJ 784 - PZU 145 (62,362 P)
Dec.82 "12 83" Type 4d NVF 665 - NZZ 684 (124,020 P)
(TOTAL 9,944,382 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Dated "79", square corners, Texas dies
Type 2 - Undated, square corners, Texas dies
Type 3 - Dated "79", round corners, Illinois dies
Type 4 - Undated, round corners, Illinois dies
Type 5 - As Type 2, but galvanized steel
*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.
2017-25 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 - EN 33665 (8,230,572 P)
9-?-23 "10 23" Type 4 (reissued numbers at first)
1-21-24 Type 4 EN 79627 - FB 98893 (1,977,245 P)
(TOTAL 11,212,768 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Dark gray jacket, old spacing
Type 2 - Dark gray jacket, new spacing
Type 3 - Light gray jacket
Type 4 - Thin print-to-emboss dies (EN 77810 reported)
Before Type 3 issued, random 6-digit plates issued off-center right
to use up old sheeting, whereas remakes for renewals are centered.
Prefix not seen: CP
