Vehicle registration plates of New York

Current New York license plate

The U.S. state of New York was the first to require its residents to register their motor vehicles, in 1901. Registrants had to provide their own license plates for display, featuring their initials until 1903 and numbers thereafter, until 1910, when the state began to supply plates.^[1]

Plates are currently issued by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

Passenger baseplates

1910 to 1965

In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles, except those for motorcycles, at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1956 issue (dated 1957) was the first New York license plate that complied with these standards.

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serial numbers issued	Notes
	1910	Riveted white numbers on dark blue plate; vertical "NY" at right	none	12345	1 to 999; 3000 to approximately 61000	Serials 1000 through 2999 reserved for dealers; this practice continued until 1914.[2]
	1911	Embossed white numbers on maroon plate; vertical "NY" at right	none	12345	1 to 999; 3000 to approximately 85000
	1912	White numbers on red porcelain plate; vertical "NY" at right	none	123456	1 to 999; 3000 to approximately 106000
	1913	Embossed white numbers on purple plate; "NY 1913" at right	none	12345	1 to 399; 3000 to 99999	First dated plate.
				A1234	A1 to approximately E2000
	1914	Embossed white numbers on brown plate; "NY 1914" at left	none	12345	1 to 5999; 8000 to 99999	Serials 6000 through 7999 reserved for dealers.[2]
				A1234	A1 to approximately F5000
	1915	Embossed black numbers on yellow plate; "NY 1915" at right	none	12345 A1234
	1916	Embossed dark blue numbers on white plate; "N.Y. 1916" centered at bottom	none	123-456 A12-345
	1917	Embossed white numbers on dark olive green plate with border line; "N.Y. 1917" centered at bottom	none	123-456 A12-345
	1918	Embossed white numbers on maroon plate with border line; "N.Y. 1918" centered at top	none	123-456
	1919	Embossed white numbers on black plate with border line; "N.Y. 1919" centered at top	none	123-456
	1920	Embossed black numbers on light green plate with border line; "N.Y. 1920" centered at bottom	none	123-456
	1921	Embossed white numbers on dark blue plate with border line; "N.Y. 1921" centered at bottom	none	123-456
	1922	Embossed white numbers on green plate with border line; "N.Y. 1922" centered at bottom	none	123-456 1-234-567	Issued in blocks by county
	1923	Embossed white numbers on purple plate with border line; "N.Y. 1923" centered at top	none	123-456 1-234-567	Issued in blocks by county
	1924	Embossed white numbers on gray plate with border line; "N.Y. 1924" centered at bottom	none	123-456 1-234-567	Issued in blocks by county
	1925	Embossed black numbers on golden yellow plate; "N.Y. 1925" centered at top	none	1A·12-34	County-coded	First use of county codes.
	1926	Embossed white numbers on dark blue plate with border line; "N.Y. 1926" centered at bottom	none	1A·12-34	County-coded
	1927	Black on yellow	none	1A-12-34 A-12-34	County-coded
	1928	Orange on black	none	1A-12-34 A-12-34	County-coded
	1929	Black on yellow	none	A/1 12-34 A/ 12-34	County-coded
	1930	Yellow-orange lettering on embossed black base	none	A 12-34 1A12-34	County-coded
	1931	Black lettering on embossed golden yellow base	none	A-12-34 1A12-34	County-coded
	1932	Yellow-orange lettering embossed on black base	none	A-12-34 1A12-34	County-coded
	1933	Black on yellow	none	A-12-34 1A12-34	County-coded
	1934	Yellow on black	none	A-12-34 1A12-34	County-coded
	1935	Black on yellow	none	A-12-34 1A12-34	County-coded
	1936	Yellow on black	none	A-12-34 1A12-34	County-coded
	1937	Black on deep orange	none	A-12-34 1A12-34	County-coded
	1938	Yellow-orange on black	"NEW YORK WORLD"S FAIR 1939" embossed at bottom	A-12-34 1A12-34	County-coded	First base to feature the full state name.
	1939	Black on yellow orange	"NEW YORK WORLD"S FAIR 1939" embossed at top	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB-123	County-coded
	1940	Yellow-orange on black	"NEW YORK WORLD"S FAIR 1940" embossed at bottom	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB-123	County-coded
	1941	Black on golden yellow	none	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB-123	County-coded
	1942–43	Gold on black	none	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded	Only rear plates issued due to metal conservation for World War II. Revalidated for 1943 with gold tabs.
	1944	Black on gold	none	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded	Repainted and restamped 1942 plates.
	1945	Gold on black	none	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded
	1946	Black on gold	none	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded
	1947	Gold on black	none	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded
	1948–49	Black on gold	none	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded	Revalidated for 1949 with black tabs.
	1950	Gold on black	none	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded
	1951–52	Embossed black on gold; "NY" embossed in black block letters in bottom left corner and "51" in bottom right corner	"THE EMPIRE STATE" embossed in black block letters centered at bottom	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded	Revalidated for 1952 with black tabs.
	1953–54	Embossed gold on black; "NY" embossed in gold block letters in bottom left corner and "53" in bottom right corner	"THE EMPIRE STATE" embossed in gold block letters centered at bottom	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded	Revalidated for 1954 with gold tabs.
	1955–56	Embossed black on gold; "NY" embossed in black block letters in top left corner and "55" in top right corner	"THE EMPIRE STATE" embossed in black block letters centered at top	A-12-34 1A12-34 AB12-34	County-coded	Revalidated for 1956 with black tabs.
	1957	Embossed gold on black; "NY" embossed in gold block letters in bottom left corner and "57" in bottom right corner	"EMPIRE STATE" embossed in gold block letters centered at bottom	A-1234 AB-1234 1234-A 1234-AB 1A-1234	County-coded	First 6" x 12" plate.
	1958–59	Embossed black on gold; "NY" embossed in black block letters in bottom left corner and "58" in bottom right corner	"EMPIRE STATE" embossed in black block letters centered at bottom	A-1234 AB-1234 1234-A 1234-AB 1A-1234	County-coded	Revalidated for 1959 with black tabs.
	1960–61	As 1957 base, but with "60" embossed in bottom right corner	"EMPIRE STATE" as on 1957 base	A-1234 AB-1234 1234-A 1234-AB 1A-1234	County-coded	Revalidated for 1961 with gold tabs.
	1962–63	As 1958–59 base, but with "62" embossed in bottom right corner	"EMPIRE STATE" as on 1958–59 base	A-1234 AB-1234 1234-A 1234-AB 1A-1234	County-coded	Revalidated for 1963 with black tabs.
	1964–65	Embossed gold on black with border line; "NY" embossed in gold block letters in bottom left corner and "64" in bottom right corner	"WORLD'S FAIR" embossed in gold block letters centered at bottom	A-1234 AB-1234 1234-A 1234-AB 1A-1234	County-coded	Revalidated for 1965 with red stickers placed at far right.

1966 to present

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serial numbers issued	Notes
	1966–72	Embossed orange on dark blue; border lines around plate and around registration sticker spot at bottom right; "NEW YORK" embossed in orange block letters centered at bottom	none	A-1234 AB-1234 1234-A 1234-AB 1A-1234	County-coded	Some later plates use the 1973 dies; all revalidated with stickers.
	1973–80	Embossed dark blue on reflective orange; border lines around plate and around registration sticker spot at bottom right; "NEW YORK" embossed in dark blue block letters centered at bottom	none	12-ABC 123-ABC1	County-coded	Numbers 51 through 999 were used on the 12-ABC and 123-ABC serial formats. Narrower dies introduced 1979 to accommodate 1234-ABC format. All plates revalidated with windshield decals; plate stickers never used despite sticker box.
	1980 – June 30, 1986			1234-ABC1	1000-AAA to approximately 9999-BUR; 1000-TAA to approximately 9999-TCS
	July 1, 1986 – December 2000	Liberty plates. Embossed dark blue numbers on reflective white plate, with red stripe at top and bottom; "NEW YORK" in plain serifed block font centered at top; red outlined Statue of Liberty screen printed in center (or at left on vanity plates)	none	ABC 123 1AB 2342	County-coded	Validated with windshield decal.
				A1B 234 A12 3BC AB1 23C2	A2A 100 to Y9Z 999; A10 0AA to Z99 9ZZ; AA1 00A to GS9 99E
	January 2001 – March 31, 2010	Empire State plates. Embossed dark blue numbers on reflective white with blue bars above and below; upper blue bar has the words "NEW YORK" in white serifed block numbers outlined in dark blue, over a skyline of Niagara Falls, the Adirondack Mountains, and New York City, with sky above all	"THE EMPIRE STATE" in smaller serifed block letters screened on lower blue bar	ABC-12343 with embossed New York State outline as separator	AAA-1000 to EYH-2999	Validated with windshield decal. Serial numbers EYH-3000 through EZZ-9999 may be issued on vanity plates. TWY series used by New York State Thruway Authority.
	April 1, 2010 – present [3][4]	Empire Gold plates. Embossed dark blue numbers on orange plate, with small blue bar at bottom with thin blue stripe above and curved larger blue bar at top with thin blue stripe below, with orange "NEW YORK" in serifed block letters curving to edges of top bar	"EMPIRE STATE" in smaller serif block letters centered at bottom	ABC-12344 with embossed New York State outline as separator	FAA-1000 to HVH-99995 (as of July 1, 2017)	Validated with windshield decal.

Notes on serials

1. Plus remakes of 1966–72 serials, issued upon request.
2. Plus remakes of 1966–72 and 1973–86 serials, issued upon request.
3. Plus remakes of Liberty serials, issued upon request.
4. Plus remakes of Liberty and Empire State serials, issued upon request.
5. This is the highest serial reserved by the NYSDMV.

Passenger baseplate variations

1973–1986: blue on orange

Letter series on the original run of 1973 orange plates were allocated by county and were determined by a number of factors such as geographical names or features found in any said county. The entire 1973–74 allocation list is displayed below.

By 1975, the DMV began to issue letter series that were not part of the original allocation. These were issued alphabetically, beginning with the 'A' series and running until the final 'V' and 'W' plates were issued in 1979–80. This was done on a rotating basis in the alphabetical order of the county name. At times, issuing offices or counties ran short of plates and plates would be diverted to where they were needed, sometimes breaking the intended issuing order.

In late 1979, the state introduced new narrower dies that were to be used on the upcoming seven-character passenger plates. Most of the 'V' series of six-character plates used these dies (except for VS, VV, and the series issued in the original allocation), as well as series UYA through UYH, WXC through WXZ, WYX through WYZ, and WZA through WZZ.

The new seven-character passenger plates started to be issued in late 1980. These plates were issued sequentially, starting at 1000-AAA, with the letters I, O, and Q not used and 0 not used as the first digit. The 'A' series ran until around the end of 1983 and the 'B' series from around the beginning of 1984 until June 1986; there were also a few mis-stamped plates with the GAM suffix in Nassau County. The final known issue was in the BUR series.

The seven-character passenger plates were issued without regard of the meaning of any specific three-letter combination except one: 1000-AUB through 4999-AUB were assigned to Cayuga County for its county seat at Auburn, where the Corcraft plate facility is located.

In 1984 the DMV began to issue plates directly through dealers, using the 'T' series. The plates were issued in the same manner as described above, and can be dated in this manner: TAA-TAZ in 1984, TBA-TBZ in 1985, and TCA-TCS in 1986. The final known issue was in the TCS series.

In July 1986 the DMV began to issue the Liberty series to replace this issue, and it took two years for the old blue-on-orange issue to be fully off the road.

1986–2001: Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty plates used the word "Liberty" in the 3M security mark in the ABC 123 serial format and in the early 1AB 234 format. During 1990 the security mark changed from "Liberty" to a year designation. 1990, 1991, and 1992 were used. By 1993, 3M lot numbers were used until the end of the Liberty issue in 2000. The year security marks only denote the year the sheeting was manufactured; the plates may actually date somewhat later. Neither the ABC 123 nor the 1AB 234 formats were issued consecutively; e.g. plates ABD 768 and UVK 767 could have been issued the same day in 1986. Type One Liberty passenger plate issues were largely county-coded and were issued two ways: "over-the-counter" from a DMV or County office or "mail-out" in which registrants received new plates directly by mail.

When the 1AB 234 format made its first appearance in September 1988, the first serial numbers observed began with 6VB; this was because most plates with serial numbers from 2VA 100 through 9VZ 999 and 2XA 100 through 9XZ 999 were issued from new car dealers, which had exhausted their allocations in the ABC 123 format (roughly VAA 100 through VZZ 999 and XGA 100 through XZZ 999; XAA 100 through XFZ 999 were issued in Suffolk County as mail-out replacement passenger plates). By December 1988 other prefixes began to appear, again not in consecutive order, e.g. 4AB 234 and 7TC 766 both could have been issued on the same day in 1989.

This passenger format had left-side numbers from 2 through 9, with the number 1 not used to avoid confusion with the letter I. This serial format was the last in which the serial numbers were county-coded. During this issue, this system was finally abandoned, and all subsequent passenger plate issues beginning with the following Type Three A1B 234 type have been strictly alphabetical. Most plates, including specialty, vanity, and non-passenger plates, contained embossed characters, except a few in the A12 3BC format, which had screened characters.

To date, these earlier Liberty plates are:

Type One

ABC 123 format, issued from July 1, 1986 through at least July 1989. These were issued primarily on a county-code basis. The letters I, O, and Q were not used as the second or third letter, in the second and third serial positions on the plate respectively, on Type One passenger plates.

Type Two

1AB 234 format, issued from around September 1988 through at least October 1991. Those stamped out during 1990 start using the 90 security mark. Type Two plates were at least partially issued on a county-code basis and became the last regular series passenger plates issued in this manner. The letters I, O, and Q were not used as they could be confused with numbers. The numbers 0 and 1 did not appear as the first digit, in the first position, to avoid confusion with the letters O and I, respectively. The number 0 also did not appear as the second digit, in the fourth position.

Type Three

A1B 234 format, issued from around January 1991 through at least November 1993. 90, 91 and 92 security marks appear on this format, and this format was manufactured in consecutive order. As with the type-two series, the numbers 0 and 1 did not appear as the first digit, in the second position, to avoid confusion with the letters O and I, respectively; the number 0 also did not appear as the second digit, in the fourth position. Type Three plates began the alphabetically-issued order for all regular series passenger plate issues.

Type Four

A12 3BC format, issued from February 1993 through at least August 1999. These were manufactured in consecutive order. The earlier A plates issued in early 1993 had 92 security marks and were the final plates on galvanized steel. By the end of the A series, plates had lot number security marks and were on thin gauge aluminum. A few of the late A plates had 92 security marks on precleared 3M sheeting on aluminum stock as well. Some plates in the Rochester area had screened serial numbers toward the end of this plate's run, but most other Type Four plates remained embossed, as did plates in all other series.

Type Five

AB1 23C format, issued from May 1999 through February 28, 2001. All had lot number security marks, and were aluminum. GS9 99E was the final known Type Five issue.

"Preferred" plates

Plates in the 1A 234 format were usually issued by county clerks' offices to constituents who contributed significantly to the counties; some were also issued as remakes of pre-1973 serial numbers.

Rental plates

Although technically not passenger plates, those with serial numbers ZAA 100 through ZZZ 999 were assigned for use on rental cars from 1986 through September 1996, when they were discontinued and replaced with standard passenger plates, using Liberty, 90, and 91 security marks. This was done to discourage carjacking of rental cars. It is the only instance of the year-dated marks on this format. They were manufactured as needed in small quantities, and none were made after 1992.

2001–2010: "Empire State"

In 2001, the state began the process of replacing all of the Liberty plates with a new "Empire State" design depicting Niagara Falls, the Adirondack Mountains, and the New York City skyline, including the Empire State Building. This base was also the first to use the "Empire State" slogan since 1963. As on the Liberty base, the serial numbers were embossed onto the plate, but unlike on the Liberty base, all vanity plates, most specialty plates, and many non-passenger plates had screened serial numbers. Renewing registrants were given the option to keep their previous registration number on a new set of plates, for a one-time fee. Many took this option, and received embossed plates with old standard-issue numbers (not in the ABC-1234 format).

The Empire State passenger plate issue began at AAA-1000 in 2001 and ended with EYH-2999. The first letters on these plates are A through E.

2010–present: "Empire Gold"

In 2010, the standard plate was redesigned to "Empire Gold". This plate consists of dark blue numbers on a gold background, and retains the ABC-1234 serial format. Standard plate numbers are issued sequentially. As with the Empire State plate, standard-issue plates are embossed, while all vanity plates, all specialty plates, and many non-passenger plates are screened. Originally, the Empire Gold plate was supposed to be a reissue, replacing all Empire State plates in two years; however, after controversy over the new design and the $25 fee for reissue plates, mandatory replacement was called off, and the prior series remains valid. All new registrants receive the Empire Gold plate. Renewing registrants with existing Empire State plates can keep them or pay $25 for new Empire Gold plates.^[5] And for an additional one-time fee of $20, the new plates will have the same numbers as the previous plates (embossed).

The Empire Gold passenger plate issue began at FAA-1000 in 2010. The first letters on these plates are F, G, and as of December 2016 H. After HZZ-9999 is issued, the first letter is expected to skip to J, as the letter I is not used on standard passenger plates.

Optional plates

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serial numbers issued	Notes
	from unknown	Blue bar with script New York with thin red stripe below. Logo picture on the left followed by 2 to 6 plate digits. Red and blue stripes run along the bottom. Newer plates have a curved blue banner with yellow stripe below on top, though some of the older designs (such as "regions") have not been transitioned to the new style.	Custom Picture plates with sports logos, universities, professions, emergency services, and military organizations. Also used for some official plates, such as those of judges and assemblymen.	Up to six letters and numbers. If number is random it will be in pre-allocated blocks in the 123ABC format. Serial numbers proceed sequentially within their own plate type, but non-sequentially otherwise, setting them apart from standard-issue plates.		Validated with windshield decal.

Non-passenger plates

As of 2015, the serial formats for non-passenger license plates in New York are:^[6]

Image	Type	Serial format	Notes
	Agriculture	12345-GL
	Ambulance	12345-EV
	Apportioned	12345-PC
	Bus	12345-BB
	Commercial	12345-MA	Earlier plates were 12345-JA
	Car dealer	7123456
	Farm	12345-FR
	Handicapped	123456	wheelchair symbol is present on all handicapped plates
	Historical car	HX-51234
	Livery	12345-LV
	Motorcycle	various
	Nassau County limousine or taxi	N123456C
	Official	AA1234 A12345 K-12345	Name of owning organization appears to left and county at bottom. Older plates have a leading letter and no other information.
	School	12345-SH
	Special commercial	12345-SM
	T&LC	T123456C
	Taxi	12345-TY	Medallion cabs of New York City have the medallion number with a serial subscript (e.g. 1X97A), or 999SBVA for standby vehicles.
	Tow truck	12345-TT
	Tractor	12345-TC
	Trailer	BA-12345
	Transporter	2123456
	Westchester County limousine or taxi	W123456C

Letters or numbers that are found on every plate are bolded.

Personalized plates

Before 1977 New York motorists were limited to use up to three letters and up to three digits on personalized/vanity plates, such as ABC-123, MM-123, and AB-12.

Vanity plates have been available since 1977 when DMV began allowing up to six characters using the 1973 plate dies. In 1978 new thin vanity plate dies allowing the issue of up to eight-character vanity plates began to be used. At first, in 1978, these plates had some restrictions: Numbers could only precede or follow letters and a dash—which counted as one character—could only separate letters and numbers.

In 1982 these restrictions were relaxed allowing numbers to be interspersed with letters and some types like commercial, trailer and motorcycle vanity (six characters) plates were introduced.

• 1977 examples: ALBANY; METS-1; WAYNE; JOHN
• 1978 examples: BROOKLYN; AMERICA; GRADE-12
• 1982 examples: TERMIN8R; GOOD2GO; ALL4U2

Since 1982 NY special registration plates have been available on all subsequent plate issues and has expanded into the NYS DMV's Custom Plate program.

Motorists may select up to eight characters on a vanity plate:

• letters A through Z
• numbers 0 through 9
• spaces (not recognized as a character on the windshield decal)
• a state symbol (which represents a dash, but is not recognized as a character on the windshield decal)

Personalized serial formats in New York are electronically printed directly onto the plate, as opposed to the randomly assigned, default serial numbers, which are embossed onto the front of the plate.

Any plate combination that is in use cannot be assigned as a vanity plate. For instance, if the serial number FAB-1000 is in use, FAB1000 or FAB 1000 cannot be issued as a vanity plate since the three plate numbers are processed as the same serial number on the windshield decal. Any "questionable" or offensive combinations are also not allowed to be assigned; some are permanently banned. Of 152,430 applications for vanity plates from 2010 to 2015, five thousand plate combinations were rejected.^[7]

County coding

New York never placed the full name of the county of registration explicitly on its standard-issue plates. Some states encode the county of issuance into the selection of serial number, with varying degrees of subtlety. New York intentionally encoded county into the serial number from 1946 through 1986. One system was used from 1946 through 1973, and a second system was used from 1973 through 1986.

1973 base: original allocation

On the 1973–1986 orange base, plates were issued in letter blocks by county, initially with phonetic combinations similar to the county's name or the names of communities, companies, or colleges/universities within the county.

Alphabetical cross-reference

Notes

a. Duplicate use.

FIL: Allegany County (from "Fillmore")

ROP: Clinton County (from "Rouses Point")

LG: Warren County (from "Lake George")

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to License plates of New York.

• Information about Empire Gold plates | New York State DMV
• Information on custom plates | New York State DMV
• Look up and order personalized plates | New York State DMV
• Order picture and professional plates | New York State DMV
• New York license plates, 1969–present
• Scott Smith's New York License Plates at the Wayback Machine (archived May 5, 2016)
• County codes for NY license plates (1946–1986)