License Plates and Registration Numbers
from January 1930 to February 1940
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1930 |
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Passenger. These eight prefix letters have been observed on 1930 auto plates (in conjunction with the numbering format introduced for 1927 as discussed on a separate page): E, G, J, K, M, U, V, and W. Based upon letter series known to have been used during the three previous years it is reasonable to assume that F-, N-, P-, Y-, and Z-prefix plates were also used for this year. Furthermore, with the number of plates thought to have been required for 1930 and in light of the existence of T-series plates for the following year, we have also assumed that the T series was available (and was presumably used) this year. If these assumptions were found to be true there would be 14 passenger letter series for 1930. Including the 9,999 plates without a letter prefix (numbers 1 through 9999), there would have been a total of 149,985 possible passenger registration number combinations for 1930. Non-Passenger. Refer to the 1927-1934 Registration Numbers section for information about to which non-passenger types plates with prefix letters A, B, C, D, H, L, R, and X were assigned. |
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1931 |
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Passenger. These 12 prefix letters have been observed on 1931 auto plates (in conjunction with the numbering format introduced for 1927 as discussed on a separate page): E, F, G, J, M, N, T, U, V, W, Y, and Z. Based upon letter series known to have been used since 1927 it is reasonable to assume that K- and P-prefix plates were also used for this year, and if this were found to be true there would be 14 passenger letter series for 1931. If it is assumed that 14 prefix letters were used on passenger plates this year and including the 9,999 plates without a letter prefix (numbers 1 through 9999), there are a total of 149,985 possible passenger registration number combinations. Non-Passenger. Refer to the 1927-1934 Registration Numbers section for information about to which non-passenger types plates with prefix letters A, B, C, D, H, L, R, and X were assigned. As discussed above, observed 1931 plate number 2B-700 is believed to be a bus plate and shows that a letter could be in the second position. Whether this alternative format was required in order to release the B series (numbers B-1 through B-9999) for use on passenger car plates is unknown. |
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1932 |
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Passenger. These 11 prefix letters have been observed on 1932 auto plates (in conjunction with the numbering format introduced for 1927 as discussed on a separate page): E, F, G, J, K, M, P, T, U, V, and W. Based upon letter series known to have been used since 1927 it is reasonable to assume that N-, Y-, and Z-prefix plates were also used for this year, and if this were found to be true there would be 14 passenger letter series for 1932. If it is assumed that 14 prefix letters were used on passenger plates this year and including the 9,999 plates without a letter prefix (numbers 1 through 9999), there are a total of 149,985 possible passenger registration number combinations. Non-Passenger. Refer to the 1927-1934 Registration Numbers section for information about to which non-passenger types plates with prefix letters A, B, C, D, H, L, R, and X were assigned. . |
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1933 |
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Passenger. These eight prefix letters have been observed on 1933 auto plates (in conjunction with the numbering format introduced for 1927 as discussed on a separate page): E, F, G, J, K, N, V, and X. Based upon letter series known to have been used since 1927 it is reasonable to assume that M-, P-, T-, U-, W-, Y-, and Z-prefix plates were also used for this year, and if this were found to be true there would be 15 passenger letter series for 1933. If it is assumed that 15 prefix letters were used on passenger plates this year and including the 9,999 plates without a letter prefix (numbers 1 through 9999), there are a total of 159,984 possible passenger registration number combinations. Note that X has been added to the list of letters thought to have been used on regular passenger car plates. This change has been made based upon the observation of 1933 plate number X-3629, a number that seems far too high to have been needed for the Non-Resident classification, to which the letter X is thought to have been assigned in 1927. Most states in which Non-Resident (and similar types such as Guest and Visitor) plates had been issued in the 1910s and 1920s had abandoned the type by the mid 1930s, so it is reasonable to assume that it had outlived its usefulness in Washington, D.C., too. Non-Passenger. Refer to the 1927-1934 Registration Numbers section for information about to which non-passenger types plates with prefix letters A, B, C, D, H, L, and R were assigned. |
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1934 |
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Passenger. These 10 prefix letters have been observed on 1934 auto plates (in conjunction with the numbering format introduced for 1927 as discussed on a separate page): E, G, J, K, M, T, U, V, W, and X. Based upon letter series known to have been used since 1927 it is reasonable to assume that F-, N-, P-, Y-, and Z-prefix plates were also used for this year, and if this were found to be true there would be 14 passenger letter series for 1934. If it is assumed that 14 prefix letters were used on passenger plates this year and including the 9,999 plates without a letter prefix (numbers 1 through 9999), there are a total of 149,985 possible passenger registration number combinations. Non-Passenger. Refer to the 1927-1934 Registration Numbers section for information about to which non-passenger types plates with prefix letters A, B, C, D, H, L, and R were assigned. |
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Although definitive information about this subject is unknown, based upon surviving examples we may reasonably conclude that the numbering system employed on Washington, D.C. license plates was unchanged, at least in its basic structure, from 1935 (plates dated "1935") through the end of the 1947 registration year (at March 31, 1948, at which time plates marked "EX-3-31-47 that were validated with a metal tab marked "48" were in use). Specific blocks of numbers (as discussed below) set aside for display on plates of various types may have changed during this 13-year period, but the manner in which numbers were used presumably was consistent. In short, we must begin this dicussion with an overall statement to the effect that the numbering of 1935-47 D.C. plates is not completely understood. What appears to have occurred during this period is that the lowest numbers, 1 through 9999, were set aside for issuance to owners of private passenger vehicles. The next group of numbers, 10-000 through some unknown five-digit number (although not the same number throughout the period) was brkoen into smaller groups and used for most non-passenger registrations. Then, private passenger registrations picked up at some point and continued to be issued as high as necessary. |
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Throughout this period registration numbers associated with privately-owned passenger cars were assigned from two sequences: plates with up to four digits are numbered from 1 through 9999, and higher numbers are known with both five- and six-digit serials. Specifically as to these five- and six-digit numbers, the lowest and highest number known of each plate is presented in this table:
Naturally, higher numbers were reached on plates used for more than a twelve-month period. This data (nor other extant information) does not allow us to conclude at which point on plates of each year the numbering of non-passenger plates ceased and passenger plates commenced (the "cutoff point"). Taking 1936 as an example, we know of bus plate no. 51-600 and passenger plate no. 57-718, whereas for 1937 we know the cutoff point was lower due to the existence of dealer plate no. 42-101 and passenger plate no. 47-895. This assumes, of course, that numbers were not duplicated on plates of various types (including passenger), which seems a fairly safe assumption. |
So few non-passenger plates issued from 1935 through early 1948 are known that it is impossible to determine, based on existing examples, which blocks of numbers were set aside for the various registration types. In general, however, we can conclude that many types were evidenced by plates numbered from 10-000 through some undetermined five-digit number. There are, however, exceptions. Commercial (truck) plates of this era were originally numbered as most other types, but based upon the existence of 1937 truck plate no. 42-101 and a plate of the same type for the following year numbered B1754 we have concluded that letter prefixes were reintroduced on plates of (probably only) this type in 1938, probably due to the quantity of registrations and the desire to again indicate the registration class on the plate. (Truck plates were designated by weight-class letter prefixes prior to 1935.) Other non-passenger types did not utilize five-number plates, most notably Motorcycle and Diplomatic. This table provides a summary of known five-number 1937-47 non-passenger plates:
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1935 |
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Although unconfirmed, it is believed that 1935 plates are the first to have been made for the D.C. government at Lorton Reformatory rather than by a private contractor. If this is found to be true it would explain, in part, the noticeable changes to plates of this year as compared to earlier issues. Most notably, the numbering system used since 1927 that included letter prefixes (in most cases) to designate the registration type was abandoned in favor of a system, not yet fully understood, in which |
certain blocks of numbers were set aside for the various types (as discussed above). Also, new dies, narrower than those used previously, were used, perhaps facilitating use of the new registration number format that required plates of up to six characters whereas earlier plates, made with wider dies, could accomdate only five. It was also in 1935 that the lowest all-number plates were considered reserved, as discussed on our Reserved Passenger plates page. |
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Passenger. Refer to the text above for an overview of registration numbers used from Jan. 1935-March 1948. Specifically with respect to 1935, the lowest (five-digit) and highest observed numbers are 60-081 and 189-629. |
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1936 |
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Most noteworthy about 1936 is that this is the first year for which plates with a number comprised of fewer than than five digits were made on a smaller plate than those with five or six characters. This practice continued through the 1947 registration year. |
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Passenger. Refer to the text above for an overview of registration numbers used from Jan. 1935-March 1948. Specifically with respect to 1936, the lowest (five-digit) and highest observed numbers are 57-718 and 201-965.
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1937 |
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Passenger. Refer to the text above for an overview of registration numbers used from Jan. 1935-March 1948. Specifically with respect to 1937, the lowest (five-digit) and highest observed numbers are 47-895 and 193-024.
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1938 |
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Passenger. Refer to the text above for an overview of registration numbers used from Jan. 1935-March 1948. Specifically with respect to 1938, the lowest (five-digit) and highest observed numbers are 53-125 and 181-626.
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1939 Jan. 1, 1939- |
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Thought to be the only U.S. license plate to be embossed with a leap year expiration date, this feature was necessary due to a change in the registration year from the calendar year to a March 1-Feb. 28 (or 29) period. Details about the change, and similar changes that occurred in future years (all of which confuse plate collectors today) may be found near the bottom of our home page by clicking here. There is no Washington, D.C. license plate with the year designation "1939." |
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Passenger. Refer to the text above for an overview of registration numbers used from Jan. 1935-March 1948. Specifically with respect to 1939, the lowest (five-digit) and highest observed numbers are 51-661 and 173-778.
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This page last updated on September 22, 2008 |
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