Oldest State License Plate Designs In Active Circulation

[thenetwork]

When passing a car today with Wisconsin plates, I started to think how that standard issue plate has been around for at least 25 years -- I worked with a guy in 1992 with that same design.

My question is what 5 states have the oldest standard plate designs that you can still get today as new-issue?

I want to say that Delaware's gold-on-dark blue plates go back even further.  Something tells me that the Hawaii "Rainbow" plate has been around for quite a while as well as the green-on-white New Hampshire  plates  There's my guess of 4 of the oldest.  Others?

[02 Park Ave]

For New Jersey, the basic black on straw plate (tag) has been around for decades.  I don't know when the state's outline replaced the hyphen.

[Big John]

Wisconsin started that plate design in 1986.

[mgk920]

IIRC, the oldest 'valid with current renewal stickers' plates are from Delaware.  Some very low number plates there date to the 1940s and are very valuable commodities.

The oldest valid plates in the current number series from California were issued in about 1964.

The oldest current regular plates in Wisconsin are from 2000.  My car has one of them (the original 2000-issued front plate was destroyed in a minor traffic crash a couple of years ago).

As for oldest current artwork, Alaska just changed their basic design for the first time in decades (since statehood?). Aside from the current Wisconsin artwork (2000), Iowa and Minnesota both go back a ways, too.

Mike

[mgk920]

Wisconsin started that plate design in 1986.

It was modified in 2000 - the coloring and proportions of the artwork were adjusted and the registry letters and numbers changed from red to their current black.

Mike

[7/8]

15q.net has a page for current US plates which states what year their current issue started. According to the website the 6 oldest US plates are:

- Delaware (1970)
- Vermont (1985)
- Oregon (1990)
- Idaho, Hawaii, New Mexico (1991)

Though of course, some states let you use older plates after a new issue has been released, so the above states are probably not the perfect top 5 you're looking for.

[The Nature Boy]

15q.net has a page for current US plates which states what year their current issue started. According to the website the 6 oldest US plates are:

- Delaware (1970)
- Vermont (1985)
- Oregon (1990)
- Idaho, Hawaii, New Mexico (1991)

Though of course, some states let you use older plates after a new issue has been released, so the above states are probably not the perfect top 5 you're looking for.

http://www.15q.net/nc.html

NC has been using some variation of the current plate since 1983, the only reason that it doesn't turn up in that list is because of slight modifications and the one year where it went to red font before it quickly switched back to blue.

[Pink Jazz]

Note that Delaware in 2002 actually switched the fabrication method from screen printing to digital printing.  The 2002 issue plates are noticeable by their pseudo-condensed Arial font; over the following years after public backlash the Delaware DMV attempted to modify the font to get it to look like the old screen printed font until around 2006 when a close approximation of the font was achieved.

[corco]

Yeah, Idaho ditched embossed plates in 2008 or so. It's a travesty - we went from having one of the best looking plates in the country to one of the worst - the classic plate just doesn't work with screened plates.

[SteveG1988]

NJ has been using the same basic plate since 1959, just revising it. So technically the plate we have now is a 2014 flat approximation of a 2007 update (removal of sticker boxes) of a 1993 plate, that is really an updated version of a 1977 plate , that just added the full state name "New Jersey" versus "N.J." to the 1959 plate. Except for 1979-1992, when we issued a blue base plate version of the 1977 with a state outline

[Kacie Jane]

It may depend in some cases on how finicky you want to get. 15q.net lists Washington as 1998, but the only differences between those and the ones starting in 1987 are that the WASHINGTON moved from upper center to upper left and switched from a curly serif font to a Helveticaesque block font, and the embossed outer border was removed.

It's a change, sure.  But not the sort of change we usually talk about when talking about new license plate designs.

[Mapmikey]

Though of course, some states let you use older plates after a new issue has been released, so the above states are probably not the perfect top 5 you're looking for.

Virginia is definitely one of these...

They issued a special Bicentennial plate in 1976 which I have seen into the 21st century, though it's been a few years since I saw one.

Plate numbers with 3 letters followed by 4 numbers were in place by 1991 when I first registered a car in Virginia, but every couple months I still see on with just 3 numbers.

[SP Cook]

Though of course, some states let you use older plates after a new isue has been released, so the above states are probably not the perfect top 5 you're looking for.

Yeah.   For example in WV last called all the plates in and started over in 1996, but if you have an car made before 1971 (the year the current numbering system and use of annual stickers started) and can find a plate from the year of manufacture, you can use that plate, for a fee.  I have seen plates from well before WWII.  I think many states do this. 

NC has had that same (really ugly, IMHO), plate since 1983, with only minor variations and the one year they used red numbers rather than blue.    They are way past needing a change.

In pure terms, the winner is DE, which has not started over since 1942.

[LM117]

http://www.15q.net/nc.html

NC has been using some variation of the current plate since 1983, the only reason that it doesn't turn up in that list is because of slight modifications and the one year where it went to red font before it quickly switched back to blue.

I'm glad NC switched back to blue font. The red font sucked and made it downright fugly.

[kphoger]

some states let you use older plates after a new issue has been released

This is what complicates the matter, to the point that finding the answer would take a lot of research time.

Kansas, for example, allows vehicles at least 35 years old to bear a license plate from the same year as the model year of the car.  What this means is that you can buy a 1955 license plate on eBay, complete the necessary paperwork with the state, and legally tag your '55 Chevy with it.  The 1955 Kansas license plate design would then be "in active circulation."

[SidS1045]

15q.net has a page for current US plates which states what year their current issue started. According to the website the 6 oldest US plates are:

- Delaware (1970)
- Vermont (1985)
- Oregon (1990)
- Idaho, Hawaii, New Mexico (1991)

Though of course, some states let you use older plates after a new issue has been released, so the above states are probably not the perfect top 5 you're looking for.

The Massachusetts green-on-white plates are still legal to display (if in good condition) and that series dates to 1983.  There were some green-on-white plates in the same style issued as early as 1977, but they were the only style issued between 1983 and 1987, when the "Spirit of America" series were introduced.

[PHLBOS]

The Massachusetts green-on-white plates are still legal to display (if in good condition) and that series dates to 1983.  There were some green-on-white plates in the same style issued as early as 1977, but they were the only style issued between 1983 and 1987, when the "Spirit of America" series were introduced.

Per the OP (bold emphasis added):

My question is what 5 states have the oldest standard plate designs that you can still get today as new-issue

Given what the OP is looking for, MA's green-on-white plate design doesn't fall under the active circulation category and hasn't since 1993.  My mother got one of those final greenies for her car back then; which was the only style in the Bay State that only required one plate (the rear) for standard passenger vehicle registrations.

[cpzilliacus]

Plate numbers with 3 letters followed by 4 numbers were in place by 1991 when I first registered a car in Virginia, but every couple months I still see on with just 3 numbers.

IMO those Virginia plates with three alphabetic characters and three numeric characters had a much nicer font than the serif font used for most Virginia tags now.

[kphoger]

The Massachusetts green-on-white plates are still legal to display (if in good condition) and that series dates to 1983.  There were some green-on-white plates in the same style issued as early as 1977, but they were the only style issued between 1983 and 1987, when the "Spirit of America" series were introduced.

Per the OP (bold emphasis added):

My question is what 5 states have the oldest standard plate designs that you can still get today as new-issue

Given what the OP is looking for, MA's green-on-white plate design doesn't fall under the active circulation category and hasn't since 1993.  My mother got one of those final greenies for her car back then; which was the only style in the Bay State that only required one plate (the rear) for standard passenger vehicle registrations.

Sorry, I didn't catch that qualifier in the OP.  The answer, then, is Delaware.  Delaware has had the same blue flat plate with golden serial and border since 1970.  The only "change" since then has been the typeface (when production switched locations).

As for other states mentioned on this thread...
Alaska's current design dates to 1981.
Washington's current design dates to 1989 even if you don't count the modifications Kacie Jane mentioned.

[plain]

I was gonna say NC but it's already been said. They can't seem to let that airplane go 

[OCGuy81]

15q.net has a page for current US plates which states what year their current issue started. According to the website the 6 oldest US plates are:

- Delaware (1970)
- Vermont (1985)
- Oregon (1990)
- Idaho, Hawaii, New Mexico (1991)

Though of course, some states let you use older plates after a new issue has been released, so the above states are probably not the perfect top 5 you're looking for.

I like Oregon's general issue, but it'd benefit from a new design. 

[mgk920]

The Massachusetts green-on-white plates are still legal to display (if in good condition) and that series dates to 1983.  There were some green-on-white plates in the same style issued as early as 1977, but they were the only style issued between 1983 and 1987, when the "Spirit of America" series were introduced.

Per the OP (bold emphasis added):

My question is what 5 states have the oldest standard plate designs that you can still get today as new-issue

Given what the OP is looking for, MA's green-on-white plate design doesn't fall under the active circulation category and hasn't since 1993.  My mother got one of those final greenies for her car back then; which was the only style in the Bay State that only required one plate (the rear) for standard passenger vehicle registrations.

Sorry, I didn't catch that qualifier in the OP.  The answer, then, is Delaware.  Delaware has had the same blue flat plate with golden serial and border since 1970.  The only "change" since then has been the typeface (when production switched locations).

As for other states mentioned on this thread...
Alaska's current design dates to 1981.
Washington's current design dates to 1989 even if you don't count the modifications Kacie Jane mentioned.

Didn't Alaska just change their design?

Mike

[1995hoo]

Plate numbers with 3 letters followed by 4 numbers were in place by 1991 when I first registered a car in Virginia, but every couple months I still see on with just 3 numbers.

IMO those Virginia plates with three alphabetic characters and three numeric characters had a much nicer font than the serif font used for most Virginia tags now.

I agree with you and I also think the word "Virginia" at the top looked better when it wasn't in all-caps.

[kphoger]

The Massachusetts green-on-white plates are still legal to display (if in good condition) and that series dates to 1983.  There were some green-on-white plates in the same style issued as early as 1977, but they were the only style issued between 1983 and 1987, when the "Spirit of America" series were introduced.

Per the OP (bold emphasis added):

My question is what 5 states have the oldest standard plate designs that you can still get today as new-issue

Given what the OP is looking for, MA's green-on-white plate design doesn't fall under the active circulation category and hasn't since 1993.  My mother got one of those final greenies for her car back then; which was the only style in the Bay State that only required one plate (the rear) for standard passenger vehicle registrations.

Sorry, I didn't catch that qualifier in the OP.  The answer, then, is Delaware.  Delaware has had the same blue flat plate with golden serial and border since 1970.  The only "change" since then has been the typeface (when production switched locations).

As for other states mentioned on this thread...
Alaska's current design dates to 1981.
Washington's current design dates to 1989 even if you don't count the modifications Kacie Jane mentioned.

Didn't Alaska just change their design?

Mike

Alaska recently offered an alternate license plate design (with the bear in the middle).  The gold one is still the standard issue.

[roadfro]

For Nevada, it might depend on how you look at it.

The white-on-blue plate design has been around since 1969. There has been slight modifications to it over time (removal of year designator, lengthening "Nev" to "Nevada" and the position of the word, changes to alphanumeric scheme, etc.). The blue design was standard issue until the early 1980s (1982 according to DMV website, but other sites say they were issued as late as 1984), as the bighorn sheep design was introduced as the new standard issue in 1983. Owners of blue plates were not required to surrender them, and plates in good condition were (and still) allowed to be used for active registrations if they remained in good condition.

Although no longer standard issue, residents can special order "Circa 1982 Replica" blue plates to replace their older blue plates, replace other standard issue plates, or as a new personalized plate. The design is substantially similar to that last issued in the 1980s (although they appear to be a darker blue). I believe this replica plate began issue in the early 2000s (possibly around or right after the time of the statewide standard issue design switch from bighorn sheep to sunset circa 2002). So there has been a gap in the issuance of blue plates, but it's an design that dates back to 1982 (or 1969, depending on how you look at it).


Random thought: The original blue plates were actually debossed. The switch from blue to bighorn sheep corresponded with plates changing to embossed characters. When the state switched from embossed plates to flat plates circa 2006-2007, the blue replicas did as well. Replicas from the flat plate era didn't really look like the originals, due to the flat design (differing font) and darker blue. I haven't yet seen any new replicas since Nevada switched back to embossing, and would be curious to see whether the replicas are embossed or debossed (like the originals).

7/9/17 EDIT: Saw a couple blue replica plates while out yesterday. They are embossed using the same character set as current plates in all other designs–however, I think the word "Nevada" is also embossed in a small font.