NEW JERSEY
Highest 1903-08 pre-state plate known: #36058
1908 numbers below #38000 only assigned to renewals upon request;
lowest 1908 known #7. Numbering began at 1 1909-25.
180,000 P ordered 1918. Known assignments in bold.
ALL-NUMERIC SERIES
1908 50167* 1914 60675 1920 212180*
1909 23775* 1915 78493 1921 247422
1910 29653* 1916 99999 1922 258085
1911 37948* 1917 99999 1923 331353*
1912 43553* 1918 149430* 1924 399999*
1913 49539* 1919 175180* 1925 460127*
LETTER SERIES NON-PASSENGER
1916 A6788 1916-21: D,L,M,T
1917 A9999, B9999, N7692, O9371, X1814 1920-21: X
1920 A361 = Duplicate, new in 1920 1922-25: D,G,M,O,T,X
1921 K11 1923-25: U
1922 A419, L91, W80
1923 A419, B-, E152, K218, L91, S6, W475
1924 A1000, B400, E200, H300, K500, L500, N300, S200, W600 (4,000)
1925 A412, B28, E-, H455, K863, L91, N492, R41, S127, W723, Z-
1917 initial order: A1 - B9999, D = Dealer, T = Trailer, no L,N,O,X yet.
Commercial began 1918.
Courtesy series seen 1921, reported 1922 with A,B,E,K,L,N,S,W;
H added 1923, R,Z added 1925.
1925: All courtesy series 1 - 400 except A1000, K500 and W600.
1926-38 COURTESY STANDARD
A1 - Z999 A1001 - Z99999
(1926-30) 1E1 - 1E999 1E1001 - 6E9999
(1931-38) 1/E 1 - 1/E 999 1/E 1001 - 1/E 99999
(1927-38) O/N 1 - O/N 999 O/N 1001 - O/N 99999
(1929) W10000 - W19999 (Long size)
(1938, added 6/21/1938) 1/B 1001 - 1/B 9999
No D,G,O,T,X used. County codes on County Code page.
1926: Special plates #1 and #00025 issued.
1926 has non-serif "I". Ocean County changed from Q to O/N in 1927.
W10000+ long size 1928-29, normal size 1931-38. (Verify 1927, 1930)
Courtesy series has vertical "NJ" left, "26" right 1926-38;
"OFFICIAL" at top in 1926-28 only.
4-1001 - 4-11999 = Non-Resident.
5-1001 - 5-1999 = U-Drive-It (1932-38).
(Highest number seen by county 1926-38 - see Misc. #1)
1939-60 FORMATS Prefix: No D,G,I,Q,X used.*
Suffix: No G,I,O,Q used.
Courtesy A/A 1 - A/A 99
Standard A/A 100 - A/A 999, A/A 10A - A/A 99Z, A/B etc.
(1951-53, 1956-60) A/A 1000 - A/A 9999
(1953-56) A/A A10 - A/A Z99
(1955-56) A/A 1A0 - A/A 9Z9
*All D,G,I,X used 1952-60, and Courtesy all years,
D used 1939-40, X used 1939 only.
(Highest number seen by county 1939-51 - see Misc. #2)
(Highest number seen by county 1952-60 - see Misc. #3)
TABS
1943 18000 - 907670*, O 9280 (Omnibus?)
1953 0000001 - 2030465*
1954 0102618 - 2434222*
1955 0095262 - 2278916*
1956 0003200 - 2283659 (Issued with 1956 or 1957 windshield sticker)
1953: Tab assignments by county on file,
0000001 - 0360000 non-passenger,
0360001 - 2000000 passenger (1,640,000).
1952-60 ORANGE/BLACK BASE
(Highest seen by county and format - see Misc. #3)
Undated Orange/Black Base issued August 1956 to May 1959.
Each county began at #1000 in its first prefix (except Hunterdon
began at WR), or continued where its 1952 6-character series left
off, if any. In early 1958, as county series became depleted,
remaining stock was redistributed as needed to any office, then
series FA-FZ and RA-RM were issued statewide during 1958-59.
1952 and Undated Bases replaced 2/1/1960 to 1/31/1961.
1959-79 BLACK/STRAW BASE
6-1-59 Courtesy AAA 1 - ZZZ 20
6-1-59 Type 1 AAA-100 - ASK-881 (390,482 P)
1959 Type 2 BAN-150 - BAV-854 (7,005 P)
1959 Type ? BBB-991 (3rd B non-serif)
1959 Type 1a BDX-473 - BES-743 (18,271 P)
1959 Type 2a BET-760 - BJA-195 (95,736 P)
1959 Type 1b BJL-113 - GKX-845 (2,283,133 P)
1963 Type 3 GLA-504 - GUS-643 (195,440 P)
1963 Type 1c GWW-954 -
1963 Type 3a GZZ-374 - NBC-586 (3,400,413 P)
1968 Type 1d? NBI
1968 Type 3b NCD-374 - RHY-560 (1,255,687 P)
Sep.69 Type 4/5 RIA-736 - SZZ-245 (943,610 P)
1970 (Type 5) (some SIE-617 - SXR-943) (w/above)
Mar.71 Type 6 UAA-699 - YZZ-999 (2,249,401 P)
1971? Courtesy 1 AAA - 20 ZZZ
5-22-73 Type 6a 100-AAA - 827-ADB (66,128 P)
1973 Type 7 910-AEN - 177-AFS (25,367 P)
1973 Type 8 568-AGM - 195-BEV (524,328 P)
1974 Type 9 118-BFF - 941-BYL (411,224 P)
1974 Type 10 744-CAL - 903-CDT (73,960 P)
1975 Type 9a 433-CIE - 999-HBZ (2,111,067 P)
1977 Type 11 100-HCA - 325-HZH (501,526 P)
1977 Type 12 196-IER - 531-IFO (21,036 P)
1977 Type 11a 441-IJI - 701-KUU (1,360,161 P)
1979 Type 12a 261-KYU - 999-KZZ (27,739 P)
(TOTAL INCLUDING NON-PASS. 16,873,200 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Aluminum, non-reflective, painted back, raised edge,
"N.J.", serif "B", holes beside slogan (BAC-000)
Type 2 - As Type 1, but non-serif "B", holes beneath slogan
Type 3 - As Type 1, but heavy steel (but PAG-226 aluminum,
NVF-498, POJ-938 steel)
Type 4 - Galvanized steel, reflective, unpainted back, "N.J."
Type 5 - As Type 4, but aluminum, painted back (no exact break)
Type 6 - As Type 1, but galvanized steel
Type 7 - As Type 1, but debossed edge, galvanized steel
Type 8 - Galvanized steel, non-reflective, painted back,
"N.J.", bevelled edge
Type 9 - As Type 8, but aluminum
Type 10 - As Type 8, but heavy galvanized steel
Type 11 - As Type 8, but "NEW JERSEY", aluminum
Type 12 - As Type 8, but "NEW JERSEY", heavy galvanized steel
No Q used. No D,O,T,X used in 1st letter position.
1st letter of Courtesy series is county code, listed on Codes page.
New registrations assigned AAA-100 - ARE-999 (ADA, APA omitted).
Assignments to Trenton and 81 branch offices in County Code Book
(362,700 P). ARF-100 - on mailed to renewals from Trenton.
Type 2: 200,000 in B series (BAM-000, BCV-000) made in Ark.
Ch. 138, passed 5/17/1973, reserved "Z" for Commercial along with
"X", so ZAA-ZZZ was skipped (until 1985).
Andree reports 495-AFP as Type 6a.
Non-Pass. Prefixes:
CGA-CGZ, HAA, HYA-HYZ, MDA-MDZ, MGA-MGZ, MVA-MVZ, NFA-NFZ, NJP,
NYP, PBA, SGA-SGZ, SPA-SPZ (SPK-129 Pass.), VFW.
Currently revalidated.
1979-92 STRAW/BLUE BASE
6-18-79 Type 1 100-LAA - 999-ZZZ (6,187,500 P)
Jan.85 Type 1a ZAA-100 - ZZZ-999 (562,500 P)
May 85 Type 1b (Omitted AAA-100 - 999-KZZ series)
Sep.85 Type 1c AAA-10A - HZY-41W (9,053,852 P)
(TOTAL INCLUDING NON-PASS. 15,803,852 P)
No Q used. No D,O,T,X in 1st letter position.
Type 1c: No I,O,Q used as suffix.
Non-Pass. Suffixes: MGA-MGZ, NJP, NYP, PBA, VFW.
Currently revalidated.
1992-2024 GRAPHIC BASE
12-7-92 Type 1 AAA1000 - ADJ9999 (702,000 P)
Apr.93 Type 2 BA-100A - ZY-999Z (7,058,700 P)
5-28-99 Type 2a JAA-10A - LGS-73P (LGW reported)(2,470,744 P)
Apr.01 Type 3 LHM-76M - PXR-19P (LGX reported)(3,653,674 P)
Jan.04 Type 4 PXS-14M - VZS-76S (4,363,983 P)
7-13-07 Type 5 VZS-84X - ZZZ-99Z (3,283,216 P)
8-25-10 Type 5a A10-AAA - T99-EEK (4,294,710 P)
May 14 Type 6 A10-EFF - A78-MHS (7,781,199 P)
(TOTAL 33,693,189 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - No map, short 5 1/4" "New Jersey", no hologram (3M)
Type 2 - Map, short 5 1/4" "New Jersey", no hologram (3M)
Type 3 - Map, long 6" "New Jersey", no hologram (Avery)
Type 4 - Map, unknown length "New Jersey", 3M hologram
Type 5 - Same as Type 4, but no sticker boxes
Type 6 - Flat
UC-124P - UU-995K blue back (RC-154G, VC-831D unpainted back).
No I,O,Q used.
Type 2: No D,H,S,T,X used in 1st position.
Types 4-5: No T,X used in 1st position.
Types 5a-6: Progression is 99, then Z99, then AAB.
JAA-00A - ZZZ-99Z = 13,856,580
A10-AAA - A78-MHS = 12,075,909 (U10-EEK - Z99-EFE skipped = 37,800)
Type 2 prefixes not seen: (seen on optional bases or non-passenger)
BJ, BM, BS, CA, CG, CR, CV, CW, FA, FF, FG, FK, FP, FU, GF, JP, JU,
JW, KC, KK, MB, MD, MF, MG, ML, MR, MV, ND, NF, NG, NJ, NR, NY, PA,
PB, PE, PH, PR, PS, PU, RN, RU, US, VD, VS, VV, WC, WE, WV, ZZ.
Starting November 1999, "11 2000" plate stickers issued for
renewals and new registrations, in UR corner. As of 11/1/2000,
all 1959-present bases required to have plate stickers.
Starting 10/1/2004, plate stickers discontinued for new
registrations at c.RVA-10A (1/1/2005 for renewals), last seen "12 2005".
Since 2006, only paper certificate has been used.
