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)

Numerous news reports of the number of registrations issued detail the progress of growth:  300 as of June 20, 1905; 1,500 as of July 15, 1905; 2,000 as of July 31, 1905; 2,150 as of August 1, 1905; #2320 issued on August 9, 1905; 2,400 as of August 16, 1905; 2,919 as of January 2, 1906; 4,450 as of September 15, 1906; and 4,473 as of December 7, 1906.

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 (8/1/1907 - 7/1/1908)

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 (or possibly 12,000s) 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 Lansing Journal reported on July 24, 1907, that "About fifteen hundred renewals are due before the end of the month."  One problem the secretary of state experienced was that many owners sending in renewal applications by mail listed a different vehicle than the one originally registered, necessitating a new registration, plate number, and additional 50-cent fee, since transfers were not allowed.

The Times Herald (Port Huron) stated on May 4, 1908, that "Not a new number has been issued by the secretary of state's office for several months...The numbers are [sic] now being issued to autoists are those which have been cancelled because they have not been renewed..."  This resulted in many duplicate numbers in use around the state, because many original owners kept using their old plates, having not actively cancelled them.

The Detroit Evening Times reported on January 1, 1909, that there had been 6,250 automobiles registered in 1907 and 7,405 in 1908.  According to a Lansing Journal article on July 1, 1909, "During the month of June, the secretary of state issued 1,000 automobile licenses and 1,200 renewals of old licenses."  News reports in late 1909 indicate that over 12,000 registrations had been issued.

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

      JUL 1908   6073 - 6254             AUG 1909    2318          (reissue)

      AUG 1908   1963        (reissue)   SEP 1909

      SEP 1908   5139        (reissue)   OCT 1909

      OCT 1908                           NOV 1909    2780          (renewal)

      NOV 1908                           DEC 1909    1186          (reissue)

      DEC 1908                           JAN 1910

      JAN 1909                           FEB 1910

      FEB 1909                           MAR 1910

      MAR 1909   1340        (reissue)   APR 1910    7651 -  7986

      APR 1909   5194 - 5383 (renewal)   MAY 1910    8166 -  8932

      MAY 1909   2753        (reissue)   JUN 1910     514, 4797    (reissue)

                 5444        (renewal)               9129 -  9536

      JUN 1909   4851        (reissue)   --- 1910    1212, 2032    (renewal)

                 5777 - 5956 (renewal)              10257 - 11676

      JUL 1909   6800 - 6816

The disc numbering system is incredibly complex, based on the renewal system, so a detailed analysis is presented below.

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

ANALYSIS OF 1905-10 DISC NUMBERS