TENNESSEE
Highest 1905-15 pre-state plate known: #22713
1915 plates issued only to new registrations.
Numbers in bold are verified assignments.
Issuance by county began 1918, although at least Knox began 1917.
Truck began 1920.
1915 23551 - 27095 (3,545) 1926 100 001 - 350 384 (250,384)
1916 6000 - 36828 (30,829*) 1927 50 000 - 325 769 (275,770*)
1917 6000 - 54048 (48,049*) 1928 51 177 - 347 203 (296,027*)
1918 6095 - 68734 (62,640) 1929 51 - 327-564 (327,514*)
1919 6140 - 86449 (80,310*) 1930 50 001 - 411 800 (361,800*)
1920 6296 - 98978 (92,683*) 1931 15 566 - 366 542 (350,977*)
1921 1 - 107305 (107,305*) 1932 10-001 - 353-900 (343,900*)
1922 25001 - 148069 (123,069*) 1933 10-001 - 359-000 (349,000*)
1923 25133 - 181500 (156,368*) 1934 10 001 - 308 392 (298,392*)
1924 25-001 - 215-995 (190,995*) 1935 11-084 - 331-642 (320,559*)
1925 25-001 - 246-582 (221,582*) 1936 10-001 - 345-900 (335,900*)
YEAR TAXI TRUCK OTHER
1925 300-453 - 10-851 - 23-813
1926 403 003 - 403 140 25 135 - 32 070 Dealer 2-304
1927 4 853 - 4 858 21 313 - 36 381 Free 7 407 - 11 077
1928 3-977 - 4-724 19 587 - 35 698 County Owned 45544,
City Owned 45917
1929 400-651 - 401-828 X 1 - X29-200 Official 405-099 - 409-287
1930 5-186 - 36 276 - 51 901 Official C9-714 - C11-389
1931 C10 644 - C18 286 *2 101 - *4 622
1932 T4-828 - T6-643 C2-104 - C38-950 *3-959 - *4-354
1 - 3,500 LBS. 3,501+ LBS.
1937 C 20-001 - C370-218 D 4-000 - D 13-108 (359,327*)
1938 100 001 - 448 000 D85 001 - D99 500 (362,500*)
1939-56 FORMATS 1 - 3,500 LBS. 3,501+ LBS.
1-1 - 9-99999 1D-301 - 9D-9999
10-1 - 95-9999 10D-301 - 95D-999
1939: Sullivan assigned 5-1 - 5-10000, 5D-301 - 5D-625.
1949: 1D-1 - 9D-300, 10D-1 - 95D-300 added in all counties.
County codes 1939-65 on County Code page. 96 = State vehicle.
Weight codes shifted to 3,600 lbs. 1955-56.
1943 TAB (Undated) C 17296 - C 361349 D 12226 -
(Initial order: C 326,000, D 19,000)
OVERFLOW FORMATS 1945-50 Letters seen: A,B,E,F,G,H,I,J,V,X,Z.
1945-50 29D-A1 - 29D-Z99
1949-50 2D-A1 - 2D-Z999, 29-A1 - 29-Z999
Initially, each county started with a different letter, i.e.
Anderson (29) X, Shelby (2) Z, Davidson (1) A.
Anderson: 1945 29D-X52 seen (also expected 1944).
1946 29D-V60 seen.
1949 29D-V21 seen (5 letters expected).
1949 29-X592 seen (2 letters expected).
1950 29D-A37, 29D-J50 seen (12 letters expected).
1950 29-A616, 29-B327 seen (3 letters expected).
Shelby: 1948 2D-Z476 reported 1/5/1949;
2D-Z1 - Z999, 2D-Y1 - Y45 reported 2/16/1949.
1949 2D-Z1 - Z999, then Y,X,T reported 12/17/1949.
2D-Z325 seen (only 1 letter expected).
1950 2D-Z939, 2D-B633, 2D-H132, 2D-I41, 2D-J554 seen
(7 letters expected).
Davidson: 1950 1D-A23 reported 11/9/1950 (2 letters expected).
Blount: 1950 10-A606, 10D-G63 seen (9 "D" letters expected;
also expected 1947 1 letter, 1949 3 letters).
Montgomery: 1950 11D-E66 seen.
Bradley: 1950 19D-A14 seen (3 letters expected).
Also expected: 1949 Gibson (13) 1 letter,
1950 Greene (12) 3 letters, Gibson (13) 6 letters,
Sumner (14) 1 letter, Dyer (18) 1 letter,
Carter (21) 2 letters.
OVERFLOW FORMATS 1951-56
2-100000 - 2-199999, 2D-10000 - 2D-99999
10-10000 - 10-99999, 10D-1000 - 10D-9999
(FOR OVERFLOW SERIES BY COUNTY AND WEIGHT CLASS, SEE MISC. #1)
1957-62 FORMATS No D used in 1-3,600 lb. class.
Expected letters underlined.
1 - 3,600 LBS. 3,601+ LBS.
1957 Letters not seen: I,O,P,Q,S,U-Z
1/A 0001 - 9/T 9999 1/D 0001 - 9/D 9999
1/DA 0001 - 9/DF 9999
10/ 0001 - 95/ 9999 10/D 0001 - 95/D 9999
10/A 0001 - 95/B 9999
Counties 1 - 14, 19, 21 and 27 appear to have begun at A;
1956 #11-1492 and #19-818 became 1957 #11/A 1492 and #19/A 0818.
Verify counties: 21,29,35,36,42,47,52,54,58,61,66,
72,73,76,79,82-84,87,89-91,94,95.
1958 No I,O,Q used.
1A-00-01 - 9P-99-99 1A-D0-01 - 9Z-D9-99
1A-DA-01 - 2H-DS-91
10-A0-01 - 95-U9-99 10-D0-01 - 95-D9-99
10-DA-01 - 95-DZ-99
10-D0-A1 - 29-D9-Z9
29-D0-1A - 29-D9-9Z
No even hundreds issued, i.e. 1A-01-00.
1959-61 No B,D,I,O,Q,S,V used.
1A-0001 - 9N-9999 1T-0001 - 9Z-9999
2T-A001 - 2U-Z999
10-0001 - 95-9999 10-T001 - 95-Z999
10-A001 - 95-H999 10-TA01 - 29-UZ99
1962 No B,D,I,O,Q,S,V used.
1-1 - 9-9999 1T-1 - 9Z-9999
1A-1 - 9R-9999 2TA-1 - 2UZ-999
2AA-1 - 2EZ-999
10-1 - 95-9999 10-T1 - 95-Z999
10-A1 - 95-P999 10-TA1 - 29-XZ99
1962-65 BASE
Type 1 - Dated "62", aluminum (above formats)
Type 2 - Dated "62", steel (above formats)
Type 3 - Dated "63", steel (unknown metal D-7406,
R-126 - R-5934)
Type 4 - Dated "63", aluminum A-32 - A-45867 (45,836 P)
Type 5 - Dated "64", steel A-48398 - A-99448 (51,051 P)
Type 5a (No Q used) AA-1060 - BS-9631 (428,530 P)
Hamilton 1962 initial assignment: 4A-1 - 4H-2000, 4T-1 - 4X-5000,
4H-6255, 4J-4150 seen.
R = Replacement. CD,EM = Non-Pass. BL-123 no zero, BO-0109 zero.
1963 A series issued to all new registrations after 1962 bases used up.
1966-70 BASE No Q used. No F,G,H,M,P,S used in 1st position.
1966 Type 1: Alum., dated "66" AA-0001 - LG-3000 (1,962,804 P)
1968 Type 2: Steel, undated LG-3001 - TT-2693 (999,593 P)
1970 Type 3: As 2, full border TT-5423 - TZ-9999 (44,573 P)
1970 Type 4: As 3, no county box TL-7351
(TOTAL 3,009,699 P)
Non-Pass. and omitted prefixes: BA-BD,BM,BO,BS,CA,CD,
DT,OO,TE-TG,TM,TN
Prefixes not seen: OD,OE,RS,RX,TO,TP,TV,TW
1971-76 BASE No I,O,Q used.
1-A0001 - 9-Z9999, 1-AA001 - 9-ZZ999 (758,448 CAPACITY PER COUNTY)
10-A001 - 95-Z999, 10-AA01 - 95-ZZ99 (75,348 CAPACITY PER COUNTY)
Supplemental AAA-001 - BPA-999
1970 Chapter 499, effective 2/15/1971: "The legend making up the
registration number on any plate to be issued for a private passenger
vehicle shall illustrate the county of issue by numbering the prefix
on the plate according to the population ranking of the county,
except the Commissioner may stockpile plates of suitable design for
emergency shipments without regard to such requirement."
Description of Types:
1971 Type 1 - Aluminum, dated "71", large "TENN", white back
1971 Type 2 - Aluminum, dated "71", small "TENN", white back
1972 Type 3 - Aluminum, undated, large "TENN", white back
1974 Type 4 - Aluminum, undated, small "TENN", white back
1974 Type 5 - As Type 4, but steel (small or large sticker boxes)
1975 Type 6 - As Type 4, but blue back
1976 Type 7 - As Type 3, but blue back
Replaced 1977.
1977-83 STATE SEAL BASE
Formats, capacities and letters used same as 1971-76.
Description of Types:
Feb.77 "SEP 77" Type 1 - Arkansas dies
Feb.79 "FEB 80" Type 2 - Texas dies
Nov.80 "NOV 81" Type 3 - Tennessee dies
Joint Class 1 (pickup trucks) may have been discontinued as early
as 1979; issued passenger plates instead for new registrations.
Replaced during 1983.
1984-88 VOLUNTEER MAP BASE No I,O,Q used.
Jan.83 "JAN 84" 1-A0A00 - 9-Z9Z99 (529,000 CAPACITY PER COUNTY)
10-0A00 - 95-9Z99,
10-00A0 - 95-99Z9,
10-000A - 95-999Z,
10-00AA - 95-99ZZ (121,900 CAPACITY PER COUNTY)
BRK-001 - CZZ-999 (Supplemental)
Sep.85 "SEP 86" 1-AAA00 - 1-EWS30
Oct.86 "OCT 87" 2-AAA00 - 2-APS28 (TOTAL 1-AAA00 288,260 S)
Supplemental continued same system as 1971-83.
Joint Class 1 (pickup trucks) discontinued 1983, issued passenger
plates upon renewal during 1983.
Replaced during 1988.
SUPPLEMENTAL SERIES
1971-76 AAA-001 - ANA-100 (TOTAL 275,824)
1977-83 Type 1 AAA-001 - AFF-556 (120,436)
Type 2 AFS-415 - ASN-515 (226,874)
Type 3 ASZ-278 - BPA-394 (460,656) (TOTAL 827,566)
1984-88 BPD-506 - CZY-091 (TOTAL 752,832)
COUNTIES WITH POTENTIAL TO HAVE EXHAUSTED SERIES:
COUNTY 1971-76 1977-83 1984-88
Shelby 1-TR645 "75" 1-TC325 "MAR 83" 1-EWS30 "DEC 88"
Davidson 2-KW885 "76" 2-MG816 "JUN 83" 2-APS28 "DEC 87"
Knox 3-CB725 "76" 3-RB895 "NOV 83" 3-S7X22 "DEC 88"
Madison 7-G2592 "76" 7-H1919 "MAY 83" 11-46FT "SEP 88"
Anderson 8-J2315# "76" 10-YR50 "OCT 80" 13-00ZZ "NOV 87"
Blount 9-J3977 "76" 8-K2766 "NOV 83" 10-27ZY "FEB 88"
Montgomery 10-YR69 "76" 9-N0864 "OCT 83" 9-E7Y50 "OCT 87"
Rutherford 11-UF02 "76" 11-ZY73 "MAR 83" 8-E5W73 "MAR 88"
Bradley 17-ZG99 "76" 13-ZU17 "NOV 81" 12-03NW "SEP 87"
Sumner 18-TC20 "75" 12-ZY57 "FEB 83" 7-E2S22 "JAN 88"
(10 Type 1, 11,12,13 Type 2)
# 8-J4000 reported
TOTALS
Shelby 611,595 599,932 785,831
Davidson 456,636 489,534 560,429
Knox 277,655 553,549* 365,723
Madison 62,586 71,912 82,147
Anderson 82,307 (83,992) 72,058 121,801
Blount 83,634 92,757 121,728
Montgomery 72,249 120,852 113,751
Rutherford 62,183 75,223 111,574
Bradley 73,764 74,672 98,504
Sumner 59,627 75,207 107,223
*Knox may have skipped earlier letters in the AA-RB range (3-Y109, 3-AX77, 3-BM68, 3-DZ85, 3-EH90, 3-MU382, 3-NK859, 3-PV326 seen).
1977-83 (Type 2: May or may not have leading zero.)
Type 1: 1-KV352, 2-EB763, 3-V9486
Type 2: 1-KZ665 - 1-NU641, 2-ER527 - 2-HX092, 3-X088 - 3-MV091
Type 3: 1-PG393 - 1-TC325, 2-JD735 - 2-MG816, 3-MX992 - 3-RB895
1989-94 THREE STAR BASE No A,E,I,O,U,Y used.*
1-2-88 "JAN 89" Type 1: Alum. DBB 001 - RVJ 263 (4,320,938 S)
Oct.89 "OCT 90" Type 2: Steel RWW 692 - ZZZ 999 (2,040,266 S)
Apr.92 "APR 93" Type 2a BBB 001 - CZZ 999 (799,200 S)
Mar.93 "MAR 94" Type 2b YBB 001 - YZZ 999 (399,600 S)
Aug.93 "AUG 94" Type 2c ABB 001 - APP 176 (230,945 S)
(TOTAL 7,822,346 S)
PBB-PZZ, SBB-SZZ omitted. TTY = Hearing Impaired.
*A,Y used only in 1st position on Types 2b-2c.
Replaced during 1994.
1995-2000 BICEN"TENN"IAL BASE No A,E,I,O,U,Y used.*
Jan.94 "JAN 95" Type 1 001 BBB - 999 ZZZ (7,191,801 S)
Nov.97 "NOV 98" Type 1a 001 YBB - 999 YZZ (399,600 S)
Mar.98 "MAR 99" Type 1b 001 ABB - 999 AZZ (399,600 S)
Sep.98 "SEP 99" Type 1c 001 EBB - 999 EZZ (399,600 S)
Feb.99 "FEB 00" Type 1d 001 PBB - 999 PZZ (399,600 S)
Apr.99 "APR 00" Type 1e 001 SBB - 999 SZZ (399,600 S)
Oct.99 "OCT 00" Type 1f 001 UBB - 930 UKX (158,772 S)
(TOTAL 9,348,573 S)
Type 1: PBB-PZZ, SBB-SZZ omitted. TTY = Hearing Impaired.
*A,E,U,Y used only in 1st position on Types 1a-1f.
Replaced during 2000.
2001-06 SOUNDS GOOD TO ME BASE No I,O used.
1-3-2000 "JAN 01" Type 1 AAA 001 - GVG 323 (3,831,488 S)
"NOV 01" Type 2 GVS 436 - GWD 534 (11,088 S)
Type 1a GWN 393 - GWN 969 (577 S)
"OCT 01" Type 2a GXD 062 - JEX 148 (762,325 S)
"JUN 03" Type 3 LTV 306 - MZL 099 (710,083 S)
"DEC 03" Type 2b NAC 409 -
"APR 05" Type 3a QLE 505 - TPV 085 (1,812,765 S)
(TOTAL 10,030,045 S)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Dark green map, medium blue state name, no legends in
sticker boxes, steel (3,832,065)
Type 2 - Light green map, dark blue state name, legends added in
LL sticker box, 2000 hologram, steel (772,414)
Type 3 - As Type 2, but aluminum (2,522,848)
Special prefixes issued ahead of sequence in 2001: MMC, MPD, NFD.
Hearing Impaired: TTY 149. Wheelchair: UHM 883.
2007-22 ROLLING HILLS BASE
1-3-06 "JAN 07" Type 1 001 BBB - 491 WKC (7,637,846 S)2009 "JUL 10" Type 2 358 WMK - 999 ZZZ (1,566,075 S)
4-5-11 "FEB 12" Type 3 A00 01A - Z99 99Z (5,289,471 S)
4-8-16 "MAR 17" Type 3a 0A0 0A1 - 7L7 7E8 (2,347,544 S)
Jul. 18 "NOV 19" Type 4 6L2 8Y6 - 9V3 8M7 (1,742,928 S)
Jun. 20 "AUG 21" Type 5 4V6 0N8 - 2V8 9W7 (68,283 S)
Jul. 20 "JUL 21" Type 6 5V3 7X3 - 1W0 7S3 (175,683 S)
Oct. 20 Type 5a 5W7 9V2 - 0W8 9W5 (5,103 S)
Nov. 20 "DEC 21" Type 6a 2X2 6A7 - 4X7 2R3 (142,443 S)
Jan. 21 "APR 22" Type 4a 2X7 5T1 - 9Z9 9U9 (477,202 S)
Jul. 21 "AUG 22" Type 4b 00A A01 - 45B T43 (394,504 S)
(TOTAL 20,155,192 S)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - No website address bottom, bar code center (WLR reported)
Type 2 - As Type 1, but bar code in LR corner (WLV reported)
Type 4 - As Type 3, but no "07" date (45B T43 highest reported)
Type 5 - As Type 4, but misaligned debossed sticker boxes added bottom (Ohio made)
(Type 5 has long bar code, Type 5a has shorter bar code)
Type 6 - As Type 4, but bolt slots, not holes (Texas made)
No A,E,I,O,U used on Types 1-2. (Total 000 AAA format = 9,251,739)
No I,O,Q used on Types 3-6.
Fleet series: GPJ-GPM, RTM, WPG, XTW, YFQ-YFT, YGB-YGZ, YTB-YTZ,
Z00 01V - Z99 99Z, 0A0 0A1 - 9A9 9C9, 0Z0 0V1 - 9Z9 9Z9,
10/29/2019 "NOV 20" 00A 1AA - 10A 4AH.
(140-YTB on have Class Code 1019, Issue Year 2010, not 1000 and 2006.)
(Yet 6A6 4B5 verified as Shelby passenger)
2023-24 BLUE BASE Assuming no A,E,I,O,U used.
2022 "01-23" BBB-0001 - BQN-8260 (2,627,998 S)
