DASH FORMATS 1916-23
1916: -10- - -99-, 1000- - 9999-, 10000 on.
1917: -10- - -999-, 1000- - 9999-, 10000 on.
1918-19: 100- - 999-, 1000 on.
1920: -100- - -999-, 1000 on.
1921: -10- - -99-, 1 0 0 - 9 9 9, 1-000 on.
1922: -10- - -99-, 100 - 9999, 10-000 on.
1923: -1- - -9-, 1000 - 9999, 10-000 on.
VARIATIONS
1905-13: Zinc base (steel 1913), nickel-plated aluminum numbers.
1913: Some have Schwaab label.
1914: Type 1 - Close date, bottom slots 1W - 39958W
Type 2 - Wide date, no bottom slots 40217W - 53095W (12,879)
4-digits left-justified 1000 W - 4068 W
4-digits right-justified 6190W - 9999W
1921: 4-5-digits have medium hyphen, 100-000 - 199-999 have long
dash, 200-000+ have smaller hyphen.
1922-41: 4-digits have no hyphen (except 1933).
1928: Old prefix dies C233-714, new prefix dies C236-498.
1929: Old suffix dies 12-248A, 7862 B, 7895 C, 8920 D, 9284 E
New prefix dies 13-333A, 13-935B, 10-268C, 12-416D, 14-597E
1932: 4-5-digits have no space between digits.
1932-33: 1-3-digits have "WIS" instead of "WISCONSIN".
1933-37: 6-digits have wider "WISCONSIN" than 5-digits.
1934-37: 1-4-digits have "WIS" instead of "WISCONSIN".
1935: Type 1 - 6-digits 14" long, horizontal dash 1 - 601-433
Type 2 - 13 5/8" long, vertical hyphen 610-158
1937: Type 1 - "37'" with short "3" 1 - 708-770
Type 2 - "3'7" with full "3" 711-851 - 714-171 (2,321 P)
1938-39: 1-4-digits have "WIS 38" instead of "WISCONSIN 1938".
1939: Type 1 - Short hyphen 10-000 - 703-574
Type 2 - Tall hyphen 706-359 - 722-459 (16,101 P)
1940: Type 1 - "WISCONSIN 1940" 1 - 430-350
(149 - 4878 raised legends, 5122 - on flat legends)
(3/28/40) Type 2 - "WIS/40" 430-351 - 746-545 (316,195 P)
1942: 1 - 9999 have tab holes at right, 10 000 - 771 626 have tab
holes center. Slogan has flat-top "A" or pointed "A".
1943 TAB: Small or large date.
1943-45: Tab design vertical or horizontal.
1945-46: Windshield stickers issued for use while new plates delayed.
In March-August 1946, up to 130,000 stickers may have been issued.
1946-52 BASE
Jan.46 "6 46" Type 1 - Dated, round corners, steel, small prefix
Jan.46 "9 46" Type 2 - As Type 1, but large prefix
Dec.46 "11 47" Type 3 - Undated, round corners, steel, LL hole
under "ER" of "AMERICA"
Sep.48 "8 49" Type 4 - As Type 3, but LL hole under 1st "A" of
"AMERICA"
10/15/50 "10 51" Type 5 - Undated, square corners, new dies, steel
Mar.51 "2 52" Type 6 - As Type 5, but aluminum
OTHER VARIATIONS 1946-52
1946-49: Most have diagonal holes at UL and LR, as 1942, but some
are at LL and UR.
1946: 9- 4310 - 9-65335 have thin "9",
9-82696 - 9-99417 have thick "9".
1946: 11- 1 - 11-57625 have vertically stacked "11",
11-61653 on have diagonally stacked "11".
1947: 3-23009 restamped from "9 46".
1952 TAB: Steel or aluminum.
VARIATIONS
1953-54: Type 1 - Aluminum (JAN-APR,DEC only)
Type 2 - Steel
1955-56: Type 1 - Steel (JAN-JUN only)
Type 2 - Aluminum, 6 1/4" x 13 5/8"
Type 3 - Aluminum, 6" x 12"
EK10003, KK10003, LK10001 listed in Wisconsin archive.
1959-60: LL-9663, PK-7270, VL-6971 normal, "WIS" right of UL slot,
debossed line;
LN-1807, PL-5718, VL-7611 - VL-8027 (419 P) have "WIS" in UL
corner like 1961, no debossed line, bolt slot at LL.
1963-64: P25-557, X25-755 tab slots; P36-681 - P38-636, X27-062 (1,957 P)
no tab slots.
1965-67 BASE
Type 1 - Tab slots, short 9 1/4" slogan A 1 - A34-117
Type 2 - No slots, short 9 1/4" slogan (LL hole in "M") A21-305, A64-953 on
Type 3 - No slots, long 9 5/8" slogan (LL hole in "E")
1968-72 BASE
Jan.67 "JAN 68" Type 1 - Wide "Y" of slogan
May 71 "APR 72" Type 2 - Thin "Y" of slogan
A 1 - A49-369, A60-146, UD 8644 slot at UL;
A53-846, A62-670 on, UD 9978 slot at LR
1973-79 BASE
Jan.72 "JAN 73" Type 1 - Wide "Y" of slogan, normal dies,
off-white
Feb.72 "FEB 73" Type 2 - As Type 1, but thin "Y" of slogan
Oct.72 "SEP 73" Type 3 - As Type 1, but crude dies
Aug.77 "JUL 78" Type 4 - As Type 2, but no space between words of
slogan
Apr.77 "MAR 78" Type 5 - As Type 2, but snow-white
May 78 "APR 79" Type 6 - As Type 1, but snow-white
1980-87 BASE
Jan.79 "JAN 80" Type 1 - Space between words of slogan,
short 9 1/2" or long 9 3/4" slogan
May 80 "APR 81" Type 2 - No space between words of slogan,
medium 9 5/8" slogan
Nov.84 "OCT 85" Type 3 - As Type 2, but no LR slot
Mar.85 "FEB 86" Type 4 - Some space between words of slogan,
shorter 9 1/4" slogan, no LR slot, new border
1981: Late stickers have wider date, "WIS" at top, not bottom.
1987-2001 Type 2: Some have painted back, not unpainted.
(white, yellow, orange, pink, dark blue seen)
Type 3: TDK 446 has no hyphen, SCA-555, TEE-777 have
hyphen.
