1984 Capital City Baseplate

Capital City plates include no permanent year designation. They are numbered from 925-001 through 999-999, then 010-001 through 501-750. Earliest plates (up to at least as high as 937-041) have bolt slots; by 947-405 a change had been made to holes.

Security marks (a.k a. holograms ) were introduced on this base, but the earliest plates do not have them. Not much data regarding this characteristic has been collected yet. The lowest reported plate with an example of the first mark, “DC 86”, is 164-958, (issued in August 1986), and number 313-042 has the same mark. Other observed dated marks are “DC 87” (seen on plate 380-766), “DC 89” (on no. 472-172), and “DC 90” (on no. 480-752, and presumably through 501-750).

This base was introduced for both new registrations and renewals on October 1, 1984. This is the last base that was used for a (complete) general reissuance. Therefore, none of the previous ( Nation's Capital ) bases are still in use, and these Capital City plates are still legal for use as long as they have been properly revalidated. The following reflective stickers were issued to validate 1984 baseplates:

Later stickers have been used to revalidate plates of this base.

This is a typical Washington, D.C. vehicle registration certificate form from the 1980s. Dimensions of the triplicate document (white, yellow, and pink copies) are 3-1/4" x 8". Click on the image for an enlarged view.

D.C.'s Last General Reissuance

All valid plates (1974 and 1978 baseplates) were replaced with 1984 baseplates during a two-year period. Beginning in October 1984, motorists whose plates were numbered from 100-000 through 399-999 (i.e. the oldest 1974 plates) received plates of the new design upon expiration of their registration between October 1984 and September 1985. Motorists with plates numbered 400-000 and higher (and vanity plates) received new plates as they renewed from October 1985 through September 1986. Therefore the latest month/year sticker combination that could appear on any 1974 or 1978 baseplate is SEP 86.

It has been reported that Capital City baseplates numbered from 925-001 through 999-999 were issued only for new registrations, and that plates numbered beginning at 010-001 were used for the general reissuance (to replace older plate of motorists with existing registrations). This has not been confirmed.

Before it began, the estimated cost of the reissuance was $670,000. There were “about 300,000 registrations in the District” at the time, according to a Washington Post article, and about 20,000 registrations were renewed every month.

	Parked at a stately brick home in the 1800 block of Randolph St., NW, are consecutively-numbered 1984 baseplates. The zero prefix, although not a formal designation, generally indicates that the plates were issued in the mid-1980s to replace older plates rather than in conjunction with the issuance of a new registration. Therefore, to the trained observer these plates indicate that the vehicle's owner is a long-time Washington resident. Click on the images below to see close-up views of the old plates.

About the Capital City Design

This baseplate's design took a long and winding path before winding up similar to previous bases. After a Washington newspaper columnist called for new plates, probably in late 1981, a design contest was held by the City Hall New Times, a newspaper published by the city's government. More than 200 entries were received, and the winner was selected by a blue-ribbon commission created and chaired by Mayor Marion Barry. The design, with three red stars across the top and two wide bands across the center on a white background, collectively representing the District's flag, was created by James L. Moseley. The registration number was light blue, and Nation's Capital and Washington, D.C. were in their familiar locations between the upper and lower bolt holes, respectively. Mr. Moseley was congratulated by Mayor Barry upon the design's unveiling in February 1982, although the mayor quickly added that the slogan might “be changed to something snappier before the plate goes into circulation, probably in March 1983,” according to a Washington Post article.

The new plates were not issued in early 1983; and, as we now know, were in fact never made. It was not until August 1984 that Mayor Barry unveiled the District's next plates, the 1984 Capital City base. The design chosen 2½ years earlier had subsequently been rejected because the numbers were not sufficiently visible at a distance. According to a DMV administrator, its creator, James Moseley, still received the contest prize: free registration for one year. “We want to publicize [the District] as a capital city, not just the nation's capital,” said Mayor Barry upon announcing the Capital City design. “I thought it was time for a change psychologically,” said the mayor.

	Envelopes in which registration certificates and plate stickers were mailed typically included a graphic image of a plate in order to show where stickers were to be placed. The graphic of the earliest envelopes made after the 1984 baseplate was introduced, an example of which is shown above, has three readily identifiable errors: The slogan is incorrect, the graphic is incorrect (an inappropriate holdover from the previous base), and there is no month sticker placement element. These errors were corrected on the later 1984 base envelope design (below), but one sticker guide arrow was inadvertently omitted. Aside from the graphics these envelopes are essentially identical: click on the image above for a view of the entire envelope.