CALIFORNIA COMMERCIAL PLATES
Began 1920. Issued in Pneumatic and Solid Tire categories 1924-46.
All light trucks under 3,000 lbs. classified as autos under new
law effective 1929. Numbers assigned in bold.
1920 748 - 31-505 (30,758)
1921 1 - 46-558 (46,558*)
1922 21001 - 66000 (45,000*)
1923 21 081 - 91 865 (70,785*) [90 001 - 93 000 Oakland]
PNEUMATIC TIRES SOLID TIRES
1924 583 - 99-999, 20-638 - 39-910 (19,273)
100000 - 154246 (153,664*)
1925 100 892 - 247 983, 25 111 - 65 292 (40,182)
F 776 - F12 547 (158,864) (20 001 - 70 000 reported)
1926 80 227 - 89 076, 36 199 - 69 290 (33,092)
135 357 - 293 964 (167,458)
1927 157-981 - 338-949 (180,969*) 45-651 - 89-983 (44,333*)
1928 160-655 - 369-539 (208,885*) 51-029 - 77-469 (26,441)
FRESNO ASSIGNMENTS:
PNEUMATIC TIRES SOLID TIRES
1924 44-001 - 46-000 (2,000) 56-001 - 58-000 (2,000)
1925
1926 220 001 - 225 000 (5,000) 72 001 - 74 000 (2,000)
1927 263-001 - 271-000 (8,000) 63-001 - 65-000 (2,000)
1928 319-001 - 329-000 (10,000) 84-001 - 86-000 (2,000)
The red and white color scheme switched from Pneumatic (1924) to Solid Tire Commercial
(1925):
Woodland Daily Democrat 6/18/1923, P.1
"The plate color of the pneumatic commercial car will show a white background and red
figures and letters."
Ukiah Republican Press 1/2/1924, P.6
"The pneumatic tired trucks will have red letters on white background this for quick
recognition."
Van Nuys News 7/1/1924, P.4
"Red and white will still be the color of plates for taxis and commercial cars equipped
with pneumatic tires but the order will be changed so that the background will be red and
the letters white."
The Oxnard Daily Courier 12/23/1924, P.1
"Plates for solid tire commercial vehicles will have a red background with white
characters."
COLORS PNEUMATIC TIRES SOLID TIRES (S = Same as Passenger)
1924 Red/White White/Green (S)
1925 Black/Yellow (S) White/Red
1926 White/Blue (S) Red/White
1927 White/Maroon (S) White/Red
1928 Yellow/Blue (S) Red/White
1929-50 FORMATS No I,O,Q* used. *Q seen 1939-41.
Board of Equalization began 1934, licensing all trucks for hire.
Pneumatic vs. Solid Tire designations dropped 1946, "COM" added.
1937 overflow may have progressed backwards from Z to Y.
1940-41 DMV chart numbers in [ ].
P/C, BE/PC A-1 - A-999, A-10-00 - A-99-99 (Hyphens dropped
S/C, BE/SC 1 - 999, 10-00 - 99-999 1931)
Known assignments: 1929 Fresno P/C D-95-01 - E-15-00 (1,999)
S/C 77-001 - 78-500 (1,500)
1930 Fresno P/C F-25-01 - F-65-00 (4,000)
S/C 19-601 - 22-600 (3,000)
P/C BE/PC S/C BE/SC
1929 A-1 - H-89-81 (78,974*) (none) 50-769 - 76-254 (25,486) (none)
1930 A-1 - J-79-89 (87,981*) (none) 62-056 - 74-001 (11,946) (none)
1931 A 1 - K 81 50 (98,141*) (none) 67 052 - 76 601 (9,550) (none)
1932 A 1 - L 23 97 (102,387*) (none) 75 931 - 85 759 (9,829*) (none)
1933 A 1 - L 22 08 (102,198) (none) 77 678 - 85 270 (7,593*) (none)
1934 A 1 - K 87 57 (98,748) N 60 - P 81 75 (18,115) 91 506 - 95 276 (3,771) 98 318 - 98 482
1935 A 1 - L 77 82 (107,772) N 487 - R 88 68 (28,380) 60 26 - 15 851 -
1936 A 1 - M 18 06 (111,795) N 580 - S 95 76 (38,994) - 10 055 - 10 680
1937 A 1 - M 93 34 (119,323) N 75 - S 45 48 (34,471) 85 67 - 85 68 (2) 10 126 - 10 992
Y 87 00, Z 42 30
1938 A 1 - P 23 95 (132,382) V 481 - Z 624 (40,140) - -
1939 A 1 - Q 50 50 (145,036) V 11 24 - Z 91 80 (48,053) 51 63 - 63 44 (1,182) 92 04 - 92 90
1940 A 1 - T 29 18 (172,901) V 14 49 - Z 13 (38,561) [51 80]- 63 15 (1,136) [87 45]-
1941 A 1 - S 91 82 (169,966) U 99 74 - Z 46 20 (44,642) 50 27 - [55 95] (569) [86 71]-
1942 A/A 2079 - S/S 1249(149,156) X/X 3198 - Z/Z 5015 (21,816) 61 86 - -
1945 A 1 - X 47 76 (204,756) A/A 1 - F/F 25 72 (52 567) 504 - -
1945-46 BASE COM BE COM
1945 (see above) (204,756) (52,567)
1946 Y 956 - Z 99 99 (19,043) F/F 93 12 - G/G 731 (1,419)
A/B 1 - A/D 79 33 (27,931)
(TOTAL 257,908) (TOTAL 60,725)
1947-50 BASE COM BE COM
1947 Wide dies A 1 - Z 99 99 (229,977) A/A 1 - K/K 9523 (99,514)
1947 A/B 1 - B/M 50 53 (215,032)
1949 Thin dies C/A 612 - D/G 3 785 (163,158) L/L 8061 - P/P 4 309 (26,658)
(TOTAL 613,724) (TOTAL 134,708)
COM stacked prefixes use A-M only, skipping double-repeaters. B/E also seen!
1951-55 BASE No I,O,Q used.
1951 (Northern CA?) A 100 - F 49 647 (549,048 P)
1951 (Southern CA?) N 100 - S 82 678 (382,279 P)
U 100 - U 11 535 (11,436 P)
(TOTAL 942,763 P)
1951 BE (Z reported) X 100 - Y 65 255 (165,056 P)
(GRAND TOTAL 1,107,819 P)
Black/White sticker issued in late 1955, instead of tab.
1956-62 BASE No I,O,Q used.
1956 A 10 000 - S 90 777 (1,430,778 P)
1956 BE X 10 000 - Z 99 999 (270,000 P)
1961 BE W 10 000 - W 99 649 (89,650 P)
(TOTAL BE 359,650 P)
(GRAND TOTAL 1,790,428 P)
Steel: K 73 356, S 42 124, W 65 552
Aluminum: R 26 520 - R 70 486 (43,967 P)
1956 Tab slots: R 15 921, W 95 880, X 49 908, Y 99 767,
Z 90 430
1961 No slots: R 17 802 - S 90 777,
Z 92 895 - Z 98 674 (168,756 P)
1963-71 BLACK BASE No I,O used.
1963 Type 1 A 10 000 - V 99 999 (1,800,000 P)
1967 Type 1a 10 000 A - 99 902 J (809,903 P)
1963 BE W 10 000 - Y 79 763 (249,764 P)
(Y 79 999 reported end)
(TOTAL 2,859,667 P)
Some A-E, H-K, W-X prefixes are aluminum, all others steel.
1971-87 BLUE BASE No I,O,Q used.
Sep.71 Type 1 00 251 K - 79 999 X (1,179,749 P)
1975 Type 2 80 000 X - 99 999 Z (220,000 P)
Aug.75 "MAR 77" Type 3 1A00000 - 2A03993 (2,303,994 P)
Type 4 2A18448 - 2Y05999 (2,087,552 P)
1972 Type 1 BE Y 80 642 - Z 28 217 (37,576 P)
(Y 80 000 reported start)
(TOTAL 5,843,325 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Steel, wide dies, thin "CALIFORNIA", blue back
Type 2 - Aluminum, wide dies, wide "CALIFORNIA", blue back
Type 3 - Aluminum, thin dies, wide "CALIFORNIA", blue back
Type 4 - As Type 3, but unpainted back
(Debossed "CA" added in UL box in 2M series)
1H11284 has thin dies, 1K97207 has thick dies.
2W94363 has normal "W", 2W99913 has inverted "M".
BE series repealed effective 7/1/1973.
1983-2023 WHITE BASE No I,O,Q used.
12-13-82 Type 1 3A00000 - 3P59999 (1,360,000 P)
1988 Type 2 3P60000 - 5A80123 (3,320,124 P)
1994 Type 3 5B21515 - 5S73514 (1,452,000 P)
1998 Type 4 5T17926 - 6J99292 (1,581,367 P)
2001 Type 3a 6K02228 - 8Z99999 (5,997,772 P)
2009? Type 3b 00000A1 - 99999E1 (500,000 P)
2011 Type 5 00000F1 - 76708K3 (5,076,709 P)
(TOTAL 19,376,409 P)
Description of Types:
Type 1 - Graphic sun design
Type 2 - Embossed "CALIFORNIA"
Type 3 - Script "California", no slogan
Type 4 - As Type 3, but "SESQUICENTENNIAL 150 YEARS" added
Type 5 - As Type 3, but "dmv.ca.gov" added
All bases 1963-present currently revalidated. Since 1993,
Optional bases (Yosemite, Tahoe, Whale) are in 2Z00000 series.
Types 3b, 5: After 99999A1, 00000B1; after 99999Z1, 00000A2.
LEGENDS
1920, 1922, 1925 F series Vertical "COM" at right
1921, 1923-28 Vertical "COM" at left
1925-26 5-digit Vertical "CAL", horizontal "25" center
6-digit Vertical "CAL25" center
1929-45 Vertical "PC" or "SC" prefix
1934-45 BE "BE/PC" or "BE/SC" prefix (fractional line 1934-39)
1945-55 Vertical "COM" prefix
1945-50 BE Vertical "BE" followed by vertical "COM" prefix
1951-55 BE Vertical "BE" prefix
RELATED SERIES
Non-Apportioned Truck Tractor known by 1998, issued singly.
Law effective 1/1/1986; single plate for front of power unit.
Type 2 - 9A29151 - 9A57854, 9C16404, 9D94912
Type 3 - 9A75082 - 9B44818, 9D22632 - 9D79155, 9E00817 - 9E13952
Type 4 - 9B72856
