Numbering began at #1 1908-34.  Dealers were issued any number of

passenger plates with the same number 1910-15.  Truck began 1920.

Plate #1-000-000 first issued 3/15/1924.

 

The Times Recorder (Zanesville), 12/20/1921:  "Because the special

license tags for electric automobiles will be the same as for

gasoline cars next year, Secretary of State Smith has decided to

have issued two sets of plates up to 500, the first of these being

the regular tags, while the second list of 500 will have the letter

B at the end of the number.  This is done because of the number of

requests from women owners of electrics who object to the use of

larger numbers."

1908-09   23234*                              1917   341123
1910      32864                               1918   411726
1911      45771                               1919   508171
1912      62972                               1920   526732
1913      85165                               1921   617968
1914     120912                               1922   733,009, 185-B
1915     180810                               1923   926,633*, 461B
1916     247411

1924-34 FORMATS        1 - 1-000-000,      Non-Passenger Prefixes:
                     * 1 -   *99-999,      D (1924-28), T, X.
                     A 1 -   A99-999       Star prefix dropped 1929.

       SERIES USED     HIGHEST SEEN, PLUS RESERVED, ETC.
1924   *               *64-115, 752B                   (1,064,867 P)
1925   * B             *99-398, 75-062B                (1,174,460*P)
1926   * A B C         C38-908                         (1,338,905*P)
1927   * A B C E        E1-069                         (1,401,065*P)
1928   * A B C E       E93-142                         (1,493,138*P)
1929   A B C D E H     H97-061                         (1,597,056*P)
1930   A B C D E H K   K74-609                         (1,674,603*P)
1931   A B C D E H K   K23-015                         (1,623,009*P)
1932   A B C D E H     H71-116, K10-000, M 904         (1,582,015*P)
1933   A B C D E       E84-200, H7-386, K9-878, M 936  (1,502,396*P)
1934   A B C D E       E87-741, H8-258, K5-113, M 954,
                                 R 967,  S 760, W 837  (1,504,626*P)


1935-80         County assignments under County Codes.  No I,O used.

FORMATS:   STANDARD          RESERVED        ADDITIONAL RESERVED
         A-51 -  Z-9999     A-1 -   Z-50    (1950)  A-A-A -  Z-Z-Z
         51-A -  9999-Z     1-A -   50-Z    (1964)      I
       A-51-A - Z-999-Z   A-1-A - Z-50-Z    (1965)      O
        AA-51 -  ZZ-999    AA-1 -  ZZ-50    (1968)   5001 -   9999
        51-AA -  999-ZZ    1-AA -  50-ZZ    (1970)     01

     (Capacity 2,117,324)     1 -    999    (1970)  AAA 1 -  ZZZ 5
                              A -      Z    (1975) AAA 76 - ZZZ 76
     ADDITIONAL STANDARD     AA -     ZZ    (1978)  AOA 1 -  ZOZ 5
   (1949   6-figure      (Capacity 90,399)

           series below)

   (1962   15001 -  99999)

   (1974  100000 - 999999)

6-FIGURE FORMATS
A-10000 - A-19999, B-10000 etc., 10000-A - 19999-A, 10000-B etc.
A-1000-A - A-1999-A, A-1000-B etc.
AA-1000 - AA-9999, AB-1000 etc., 1000-AA - 9999-AA, 1000-AB etc.
No W-0000-W until 1976; WW limited to WW-1999 (until 1973) and 1999-WW.

County assignments on file:
1935, 1937, 1942, 1945, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1967.
12/18/1974 - 7/15/1975 random assignments 100000 - 863450.
1965, 1969 lists show starting number for Knox, Henry and Highland
counties as 76, and Lake county as 101.

1949:     Verify A-1000-A format.
1950-80:  Replacement = Prefix RE '50, RP '50, RQ '66, R '76,
          Suffix RE '50, R '74, RP '76, RQ '76, 127001 - 130000 '75.
1955-80:  TP-1001 - TP-9999 = Turnpike Commission.
1967-80:  S 5001 R - S 5999 R = Suspension & Revocation.
1975:     AAA 76 format issued only in one county.

1974-75 BASE
3-16-74

1935-75 county system used only for initial assignment.
Statewide secondary assignments began 12/18/1974:  100000 - 999999,
A 20000 - Z 99999, except those included in county assignments.
Series seen:  M 99208, N 99486, P 75104, S 99823, Z 99308.

             (County A 98948, B 98245, C 28965)
Replaced April-May 1976.


1976-80 PLAIN BASE
3-1-76  (Und.)

1935-75 county system used only for initial assignment.
Statewide secondary assignments:  100000 - 999999, A 20000 - Z 99999,
20000 A - 99999 Z, except those included in county assignments.
Series seen:  D 99472, E 98850, F 99916, G 94719, H 96299, J 92918,

     K 99301, L 99516, M 97107, N 98117, P 98345, R 51902, S 92590,

     T 98783, U 98522, V 99756, W 99891, X 90444, Y 96216, Z 96741,

     97440 A, 35385 B, 94603 P, 99219 S.

    (County A 95899, B 96550, C 96478, 40857 L, 35561 N, 21006 Q,

            43157 T, 20356 U, 21427 V, 26498 W, 22048 X, 23582 Y,

     Replacement R 55903 - R 91046, 28945 Q, 17253 R - 98441 R)

Replaced during 1980.

1980-85 MAP BASE             No I or O used in 1st or 3rd position.
1-2-80  "3-80"  Type 1        CAA-010 - LZZ-999       (5,559,840 P)
1980    "9-80"  Type 2        MAA-010 - MTF-350         (456,731 P)
1981            Type 1a       MTF-351 - MXC-999          (92,719 P)
1981   "12-81"  Type 2a       MXD-010 - NPB-087         (425,778 P)
1981    "9-81"  Type 3        NVH-667 - PNZ-999         (443,853 P)
1981    "9-81"  Type 1b       AAA-010 - BZZ-999       (1,235,520 P)
Jul.81  "6-83"  Type 3a       POA-010 - TVJ-010       (2,645,281 P)
1984    "8-84"  Types 3b,4-6  TVL-999 - UFU-896         (245,418 P)
                                               (TOTAL 11,257,187 P)

Description of Types:
Type 1 - Aluminum, embossed medium "OHIO"  (6,888,079 P)
Type 2 - Aluminum, screened "OHIO"           (882,509 P)
Type 3 - Steel, screened "OHIO"            (3,089,134 P)
Type 4 - Steel, embossed large "OHIO"
Type 5 - Steel, embossed small "OHIO"
Type 6 - Steel, embossed medium "OHIO"

Types 1b and 3a resulted from series delayed until after AAA-BZZ
non-pass. series expired in May 1980.
Adams county issued first lot CAA-010 - ?.
Reserved Series:  AAA-1 - ZZZ-9, and any 1935-80 county series.
Non-Pass:  COM-1 - COM-300, SOC-101 - SOC-999.
County name stickers began 1/1/1983, expire "1-84", for renewals

and new registrations.
Replaced during 1985.

1985-91 MAP BASE             No I or O used in 1st or 3rd position.
1-2-85  "2-85"  Type 1        010-AAA - 010-WXP      (12,914,551 P)
1990    "9-90"  Type 2        999-WXS - 010-XSM         (493,022 P)
1990   "12-90"  Type 3        083-XSR - 902-YOZ         (531,460 P)
                                               (TOTAL 13,947,023 P)

Description of Types:  Type 1 - Screened "OHIO", enclosed boxes
                       Type 2 - Screened "OHIO", open boxes
                       Type 3 - Embossed "OHIO", open boxes
Replaced during 1991.

1991-97 SLOGAN BASE          No I or O used in 1st or 3rd position.
Jan.91    "5-91" Type 1       AAA-010 - QZC-691       (9,245,302 P)
Jan.91    "1-92" Type 1a      TAA-010 - VZZ-999       (1,853,280 P)
          "  95" Type 2       RCK-148 - SZZ-999       (1,178,952 P)
5-2-95           Type 2a      WAA-010 - XEU-937         (731,548 P)
11-20-95  "3-96" Type 3       XEV-058 - YWA-946       (1,027,519 P)
                                               (TOTAL 14,114,377 P)

Description of Types:
Type 1 - Wide 1967-91 dies, no hologram   (11,098,582 P)
Type 2 - Wide 1967-91 dies, with hologram  (1,910,500 P)
Type 3 - Narrow 7-figure dies              (1,027,519 P)

Types 1, 2, 2a and 3 are Counter issues. Hologram added in R series.
Type 1a is Mail Renewal series with sticker containing pre-printed
matching plate number.  VKN-VZZ are remaining stock issued at
counters with regular stickers.
Replaced October 2001 to September 2002 for $.75 fee.

1996-2002 SLOGAN BASE               No I or O used in 3rd position.
8-2-96   "12-96" Type 1      AAA 1000 - ARR 5835      (3,811,836 P)
          "7-98" Type 2      ARR 5912 - BIF 8668      (3,584,757 P)
10-16-98  "1-00" Type 3      CAA 1000 - CVV 4685      (4,710,686 P)
                                               (TOTAL 12,107,355 P)

Description of Types:  (ACV 4390 wide spacing, ACW 7054 close)
Type 1 - "the heart of it all" slogan, wide tan band
Type 2 - "BIRTHPLACE OF AVIATION" slogan, wide tan band
Type 3 - As Type 2, but thin tan band (Avery)

Issued to new registrations only.  Replaced 2004? only for $2.75
fee; otherwise currently revalidated.  Mandatory replacement began

December 2021, presumably through November 2022.

Non-Pass. Series:  PAA-PZZ, SAA-TZZ.

2002-05 BICENTENNIAL BASE                              No I,O used.
10-1-01   "9-02"               AA01AA - FC09KV        (6,980,202 P)

Numbers progress before letters, regardless of position.
County stickers numbered alphabetically 1 to 88.
Non-Comm. Trailer:  RA01AA - RJ53YJ.
JB63AS also reported.
Currently revalidated.

2004-10 SUNBURST BASE                  No I,O used in 3rd position.
2-24-04   "6-04"             DAA 1000 - EQZ 9999      (9,279,000 P)

12-23-09 "12-10"             EUJ 1000 - FAK 9999      (1,296,000 P)

                                               (TOTAL 10,575,000 P)

 

DAC, FAC omitted.  DIR-DIS issued by Direct Mail.

Currently revalidated.