RHODE ISLAND
Numbers began at 1 all years. Commercial began 4/27/1912.
1904-08 REGISTER BASE TYPE PLATES OBSERVED TOTAL GAP
1 1 - 499 (499) 5
1a 505 - 609 (105) 209
1b 819 - 824 (6) 47
2 872 - 2669 (1,798) 37
3 2707 - 2950 (244) 35
4 2986 - 3233 (248) 38
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Short 4 3/4" legend, 1 3/8" wide digits, "54" on black back
Type 1a - As Type 1, but "64"
Type 1b - As Type 1, but no marking
Type 2 - Long 7" legend, 1 7/8" wide digits, white back, no mark
Type 3 - As Type 2, but 1 5/8" wide digits with slanted ends
Type 4 - As Type 2, but 1 5/8" wide digits with straight ends
1908-12 BLACK RI BASE TYPE PLATES OBSERVED TOTAL GAP 1 3272 - 3765 (494) 79
2 (1)- 715
2 3845 - 4176 (332) 138
3 (1)- 3281
3 4315 - 8640 (4,326)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Non-serif "I" of "RI", LR slot centered under "R"
Type 2 - Non-serif "I" of "RI", LR slot ends between "R" and "I"
Type 3 - Serif "I" of "RI", LR slot ends between "R" and "I"
1912-17 WHITE RI BASE TYPE PLATES OBSERVED TOTAL GAP
1 1 - 9804 (9,804) 307
2 10112 - 34966 (24,855)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - 1 3/4" wide digits (1-4-digit)
Type 2 - 1 1/2" wide digits, slightly shifted slots (5-digit)
Numbers 1 - 199 have "RI" and number center-justified.
ANNUAL PLATES
1918 29265* 1925 84-952* 1932 112-492
1919 35200 1926 89-139 1933 124-347*
1920 36750 1927 97-386* 1934 124-324*
1921 42511 1928 109-476* 1935 129-937
1922 49501 1929 108-877 1936 139-403
1923 61-720 1930 115-072 1937 148-135
1924 85-538* 1931 115-807
All numbers reservable at no extra cost 1918-on, except for numbering
system changes in 1938 and 1957.
1938-56 FORMATS Hyphen after letter 1939-46 only.
RESERVED 1 - 9999 (10000 by 1947)
STANDARD B 1 - Z9999 No A,I,Q,S,U,V,X used.
NON-PASS: A = State/City/County owned
(1938-46) S = State owned
(1946-55) X, XA-XZ, AX-ZX = Commercial
1938 R 345 (150,330 P)
1939 R-9688 (159,673 P) (Verify 1939-41 pair strikes)
1940 T-3773 (163,757 P) 1940: Branch offices began, at
1941 W-8727 (178,710 P) Newport and Woonsocket.
1942 W-7684 (177,667 S)
1942: 175,000 P reportedly made (but probably 150,000 P),
then 25,000 S (R-3001 - W-8000?).
Mates to 25,000 S made late 1942.
1944-46 BASE
1944 Type 1: Flattened "42" mate B-1 - R-653 (150,638 S)
1945 Type 2: Undated new plate R-4621 - W-5444 (20,822 S)
(TOTAL 175,427 S)
Passenger seen (flattened "42"): S-129
Replacement series began 1/14/46: S-501 - S-9999,
(Presumably with "45" tab) 10-001 - 18-000 (17,499 S)
Replaced July 1946.
1946-47 BASE Aluminum. No A,I,Q,V,X used. No U seen.
Jun.46 Type 1 RESERVED 1 - 10000 (10,000 P)
Type 1 REPLACEMENT S 501?- S7889 (7,389 P)
Jun.46 Type 1 STANDARD B 1 - Y9330 (179,313 P)
1947 Type 2 STANDARD Z 104 - Z9708 (9,605 P)
(TOTAL 207,079 P)
Description of Types:
1946 Type 1 - Embossed tab block, tiny tab slots
1947 Type 2 - No tab block but painted area, larger tab slots
1947-51: V = Veteran. U series reported.
1948-50 BASE No A,I,Q,V,X used.
1948 Type 1/2 RESERVED 1 - 10000 (10,000 P)
(Reported to 19999) REPLACEMENT 10001 - 16704 (6,704 P)
STANDARD B 1 - Z9999 (209,479 P)
STANDARD 30001 - 43092 (13,092 P)
1950 Type 3 STANDARD 47698 - 57904 (10,207 P)
1950 Type 4 STANDARD 59503 - 70966 (11,464 P)
(TOTAL 267,149 P)
Description of Types:
1948 Type 1 - Undated, aluminum, tab slots, "48" tab affixed before
painting
1949 Type 2 - Undated, aluminum, tab slots, painted without tab
1950 Type 3 - Undated, steel, tab slots, painted without tab
1950 Type 4 - Dated "50", steel, no tab slots
1951-52 BASE Steel. No A,I,Q,V,X used. Q,V added 1952.
1951 Type 1: Dated "51", RESERVED 1 - 10000 (10,000 P)
no slots REPLACEMENT 10001 - 12688 (2,688 P)
STANDARD B 1 - Z9999 (209,479 P)
STANDARD 30001 - 33295 (3,295 P)
1952 Type 2: Dated "52", STANDARD 41020 - 59404 (18,385 P)
no slots STANDARD V 1 - V9999 (9,999 P)
STANDARD Q 1 - Q1811 (1,811 P)
1952 Type 3: Dated "52", STANDARD Q3222 - Q8541 (5,320 P)
tab slots (TOTAL 270,111 P)
1953-54 BASE Steel. No A,I,X used.
1953 Type 1: Dated "53" RESERVED 1 - 10000 (10,000 P)
REPLACEMENT 10001 - 11298 (1,298 P)
STANDARD B 1 - Z9999 (229,477 P)
STANDARD 40300 - 73563 (33,264 P)
1954 Type 2: Undated STANDARD 75397 - 84171 (8,775 P)
(TOTAL 284,647 P)
1955-56 BASE Steel. No A,I,X used.
1955 RESERVED 1 - 10000 (10,000 P)
REPLACEMENT 10001 - 15000 (5,000 P)
STANDARD B 1 - Z9999 (229,477 P)
STANDARD 35276 - 99917 (64,642 P)
(TOTAL 309,119 P)
1957-60 FORMATS (CAPACITY 442,567 P)
RESERVED 1 - 10000,
A 1 - Z 999 Large letters (No I,X used)
STANDARD AA 1 - WW999 Small letters (No I,Q,U,X,Y,Z used)
REPLACEMENT XX 1 - XZ999, YX 1 - YZ999, ZX 1 - ZZ999
1957: Original order used most common first name initials on 1956
registrations. AA-AW, EA-EW, JA-JW, MA-MW, RA-RW made up to
999; all others made in limited quantities. Other series
added in seemingly random order.
1959: Reserved added AI 1 - WQ 9 using I,Q only in 2nd position.
1961-66 BASE
All 1957-60 formats, and additional series added:
RESERVED (1961) I 1 - I 200, X 1 - X 99,
AU 1 - WZ 9 (using U,X,Y,Z only in 2nd pos.)
IA 1 - IW 20, UA 1 - UR 10, US 1 - US 50,
YA 1 - YW 10 (using original letters in 2nd)
STANDARD (1965) AI100 - KX449 (using all I,Q,U,X,Y,Z combos)
REPLACEMENT(1966) UU100 - UU999, UX100 - UZ999
(TOTAL 525,756 P)
Replaced 4/1/1967.
1967-72 DISCOVER BASE White back. All letters used*.
1967 RESERVED 1 - 10000, A 1 - Z 999, AA-1 - ZZ-99 (102,898 P)
1967 STANDARD AA-100 - KZ-999 (257,400 P)
1967 LA-100 - WW-999* (180,000 P)
Dec.69 XA-100 - XZ-999 (23,400 P)
1970 QA-100 - QZ-999 (23,400 P)
1971 UA-100 - UZ-999 (23,400 P)
1971 YA-100 - ZZ-999 (46,800 P)
1972 Remaining reserved plates issued as standard
(TOTAL 657,298 P)
*No I,Q,U,X,Y,Z used on Standard LA-WW series.
1969 SI-365, SI-428 seen. Replacements discontinued.
1970: Unpainted back QT-8, QV-692, QX-279 (Rich Dragon reports QO,QQ,QW)
(White back QF-849, QL-8, QN-21)
1972-79 OCEAN STATE BASE New registrations only.
10-30-72 Type 1: R.I. dies, aluminum, off-white, holes, slogan
LI-100 - WZ-999 (54,000 P)
1974 Type 1a (Reissue of 1967-72 dormant numbers)
1977 Type 2: As Type 1a, but snow-white
1978 Type 3: N.Y. dies, steel, snow-white, slots, no slogan
(dormant numbers in AA-CZ series) (10,000 P)
1979 Type 2a
Type 1: 1st position L-P, R-T, V-W; 2nd position I,Q,U,X,Y,Z.
Early issues (MI-110 - NI-527) have non-serif "I", WI-216 has serifs.
#10042 seen.
All 1967-79 bases replaced 4/1/1980. A few temporarily renewed
with 1980 stickers if owner's address had changed since 1979.
1980-2022 FORMATS All letters used. (CAPACITY 711,298 P)
RESERVED 1 - 10000, A 1 - Z 999, AA-1 - ZZ-99
STANDARD AA-100 - ZZ-999
10001 - 100000 gradually added by September 2001
"JAN 2007" 710-001 - 999-999 added 11/3/06
"MAY 2011" 600-001 - 700-000 added 4/22/10 (were 700-001 - 710-000
"APR 2012" 500-001 - 600-000 added 7/?/11 ever issued?)
"NOV 2014" 400-001 - 500-000 added ?
"NOV 2015" 300-001 - 400-000 added 2014
"OCT 2016" AA-100 - ZZ-999 resumed 2/?/15
"FEB 2021" 1AA 100 - 1AL 120 seen 10/14/20, also 1BR 142 - 1EK 194
"FEB 2021" 1AL212 - 1IR809 seen 12/1/20 (no O used)
(Starting with 1BU, non-passenger types mixed in.)
1980-99 ANCHOR BASE
Replaced 11/1/1996 to 9/30/1997 (regardless of final sticker date,
up to "NOV 99") starting with APR expirations in November 1996,
and ending with MAR expirations in June 1997.
1992-2022 SAILBOAT BASE Optional $20 extra-cost issue.
Apr.92 "MAY 92" Custom-made for any 1980-present number.
Currently revalidated.
1997-2024 WAVE BASE
10-1-96 "JAN 97" Formats same as 1980-99 Anchor Base.
Issued for new registrations only 10/1/1996 to 10/31/1996.
Stickers not issued for renewal plates until original expiration
month of previous base came up.
Last "undated" base valid November 1999.
2024-25 OCEAN STATE BASE
1-1-23 "APR 24" 1MS 552 -
