MICHIGAN

Prior to the first state law in 1905, several cities passed ordinances providing for automobile registration, the earliest being Grand Rapids in 1900.  When the state law took effect on June 15, 1905, local licensing became invalidated, ending the city pre-state era in Michigan.

1905 Act 196, passed on May 25, 1905, and effective June 15, 1905, required all motor vehicles to register with the Secretary of State, pay a one-time $2 fee, and display both a state-issued disc and an owner-provided rear plate with 3-inch-tall numbers and the state name "in full or abbreviated" in 1-inch-tall letters, in black-on-white or white-on-black.  Registration was mandatory by July 15, 1905.  Dealers and manufacturers were to register one vehicle of each class of motive power as one would a privately owned vehicle, and could purchase as many duplicate seals as needed for 50c each.  Motorcycles were included.  Non-residents were exempted if they were registered in their home state and displayed their home state's plate, as long as they were from a reciprocal state.  Local licensing ordinances were prohibited.

Most pre-state plates bear the abbreviation "MICH" although some carry the full state name.  The 1905-07 discs were undated, the highest known example being #5956.  Numbers issued by calendar year are as follows:

      1905      1 - 3283   (3,283)

      1906   3284 - 4778   (1,495)

      1907   4779 - 5597     (819)   (as of May 28, 1907)

1907 Act 304, passed on June 28, 1907, effective immediately, amended the 1905 law in several different ways.  Registration was now to be annual, fees were reduced, and front plates now required.  Based on several factors, it appears that this law was probably placed into effect on July 1, 1907.

Old registration certificates and undated discs were now set to expire according to the following schedule:

1905  2 years from 1st of month after issue     (7/1/1907 - 1/1/1908)

1906  1 1/2 years from 1st of month after issue (7/1/1907 - 6/1/1908)

1907  1 year from 1st of month after issue      (2/1/1908 - 7/1/1908)

New registrations were treated similarly, the expiration date set at one year from the first day of the month after the application was received in the Secretary of State's office.  If any registration was not renewed by the expiration date, "the Secretary of State shall cancel such certificate and reissue the number."  This may explain why Michigan pre-state numbers only reached the 11,000s while most other states issued substantially more numbers in their multi-year period than they did during their first annual issue.  With nearly 18,500 plates in 1910, we would normally expect a cumulative total of well over 20,000 in the 1905-09 era.

The fee was changed from $2 permanently to $1 annually, with renewals being charged 50c.  New dated discs were issued annually, showing the month and year of expiration but not the day, which was actually the first day of the month, not the last.  Some of the last discs issued from June to December 1909 carried only the year date (1910) because these were issued after the new 1909 law was passed, invalidating all old registrations on January 1, 1910.  Discs that were originally marked to expire in February 1910 to June 1910 were also void after January 1, 1910.

Owners could continue to use the same 1905-07 plates, since the specifications remained the same, but were now required to provide a front plate as well.  Therefore, it is common to see mismatched pairs of Michigan pre-states, usually on numbers below #6000.

Dealers and manufacturers were now allowed to purchase a general registration number for $5 which included 5 identical seals, and upon renewal the second year, would pay only $2.50.  Additional seals beyond the first 5 were available for 50c each.

The Detroit Evening Times reported on January 2, 1909, that there had been 6,250 automobiles registered in 1907 and 7,405 in 1908.

The following table lists known disc numbers by month and year:

      JUL 1908   6073 - 6254             JUL 1909    6816 -

      AUG 1908                           AUG 1909

      SEP 1908   5139 -                  SEP 1909

      OCT 1908                           OCT 1909

      NOV 1908                           NOV 1909

      DEC 1908                           DEC 1909    1186 -

      JAN 1909                           JAN 1910

      FEB 1909                           FEB 1910

      MAR 1909                           MAR 1910

      APR 1909   5194 - 5383             APR 1910    7651 -  7986

      MAY 1909   5444 -                  MAY 1910    8166 -  8932

      JUN 1909   5828 - 5956             JUN 1910    9536 -

                               (JUL-DEC) --- 1910   10257 - 11676

1909 Act 318, passed on June 2, 1909, and effective January 1, 1910, repealed the 1905 and 1907 laws.  The new law required all motor vehicles to register with the Secretary of State, pay a $3 annual fee, and display annual state-issued pairs of plates, or single rear motorcycle plates.  The registration year was January 1 to December 31, and half rates were in effect after August 1 of each year.  The Dealer/Manufacturer fee was $10 for the first pair of plates, and $2 for each additional duplicate pair needed.  Half rates applied after August 1 except for the additional pairs.

The lowest and highest known 1910 plates are as follows:

      Passenger            #3 - 18492

      Dealer           #1221M, 1374M, 2782M, 5000M - 5186M

      Motorcycle          #10 -  1059

      Motorcycle Dealer #15 M