History of vehicle registration plates of New York

New York first issued license plates in 1910.

Passenger baseplates 1959 to present

Notes
*1 Plus remakes of serials issued on previous bases

County coding

1973 base

1986 Base: Liberty

New York Liberty plates indeed used the word "Liberty" in the 3M security mark in the ABC 123 format, and on the earlier 2AB 123 serial formats. During 1990 the security mark changed from "Liberty" to a year. 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. It should be noted that both the ABC 123 and 2AB 123 formats were not issued consecutively, i.e. plate ABD 768 and plate UVK 767 could have been issued the same day in 1986. When the 2AB 123 format made it's first appearance in September 1988, the first ones I saw were in the 6VB prefixes, this was due to the fact that most plates from 2VA 100 to 9VZ 999 and 2XA 100 to 9XZ 999 were issued from new car dealers, and were the first to exhaust the original format, roughly VAA 100 - VZZ 999 and XAA 100-XZZ 999. By December 1988 other prefixes began to appear. again not in consecutive order. 4AB 234 and 7TC 766 both could have been issued on the same day in 1989.To date these earlier Liberty plates:
*ABC 123 format was issued from July 1 1986 through at least July 1989

*2AB 123 format was issued from about September 1988 to at least October 1991. Those stamped out in mid 1990 start using the 90 security mark.

*A2B 123 Format was issued from about January 1991 to at least November 1993. 90, 91 and 92 security marks appear on this format, and this format was manufactured in consecutive order.

*A12 3BC format appeared in February 1993 and was issued to 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 gage aluminum. A few of the late A plates had 92 security marks on pre cleared 3M sheeting on aluminum stock, also.

*AB1 23C format appeared in May 1999 and was issued to Dec 31 2000. All had lot number security marks, and were aluminum.
*Although technically not passenger plates, the series ZAA 100 to ZZZ 999 which were used on rental cars from 1986 to September 1996, when they were discontinued, and replaced with standard passenger plates, used Liberty, 90, and 91 security marks. This is the only instance you will see the year dated marks on this format. They were manufactured as needed in small quantities, and none were made after 1992.

2001 base: The return of the Empire State

In 2001, the state began the process of replacing the all of the 1986 base plate featuring the Statue of Liberty with a new design featuing Niagara Falls and the New York City skyline with the Empire State Building. The base also returned the "Empire State" slogan for the first time since the 1962 dated plates. Motorists 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, so there are plates not in the standard ABC-1234 format on the road.

Personalized Plates

Motorists may select up to eight characters on a personalized plate:
* letters A through Z
* numbers 0 through 9
* spaces
* a state image

External links

* [http://www.15q.net/ny.html New York license plates 1969-present]
* [http://www.nyplates.net/ Scott Smith's NY Plates Online]
* [http://www.nyplates.net/gallery.htm Scott Smith's Photos of NY Plates from 1911-present]