1966, '67

April 1, 1966-March 31, 1968

Washington, D.C. license plates of the 1966-68 and 1968-74 baseplates are often confused for two reasons, the first of which is their similar appearance. Because they share a color scheme, only the reversed positions of the city name and slogan and the blocks of numbers that appear on auto plates may be used to tell them apart. Second, with the introduction of this base in early 1966 plates of certain non-passenger types were not replaced, contrary to the past practice of always replacing passenger and non-passenger plates simultaneously. This overlapping of three bases (1965, 1966-68, and 1968-74, as discussed in the Non-Passenger Numbering section below) continues to confuse collectors today.

There are two distinct varieties of this two-year baseplate: dated and undated. Both styles have "3-31" embossed in the lower left corner. The dated version has "67" stamped in the lower right corner whereas the undated variety does not. As with plates of earlier years, dated plates were used for the 1966-67 registration year with no other visible form of validation (i.e. a plate or window sticker), and for the 1967-68 registration year they were validated with white-on-green dated “68” stickers placed in the upper right corner. Nineteen sixty-six baseplates were replaced during March 1968 for the registration year that began on April 1, 1968.

Although stickers affixed to Washington, D.C., plates for the 1967-68 registration year were the first used by most city residents, they had been used to validate personalized plates since the introduction of that type in late 1964. As discussed on the Validation Stickers page, effective with the "68" sticker the final three digits in the serial number should match the final three numbers on plates issued in evidence of a new registration, whereas this matching characteristic is not present on plates issued to replace older plates used in evidence of an existing registration.

License plate collectors should note that mint (unissued and unused) examples of both styles of the 1966 base are relatively plentiful.

After several years of experimenting with various general-issue numbering formats, officials of the D.C. DMV returned to the one that had served well for many previous years: six-digit numbers assigned sequentially as high as necessary. Registration numbers for non-passenger vehicles continued to feature letter prefixes to denote the type.

Passenger - General-Issue. A block of 300,000 six-digit registration numbers, 100-001 through 400-000, was set aside for this base. Not all were issued, however, and the ample supply of unissued plates makes these two years among the easiest for collectors to locate.

The cutoff point between dated and undated varieties of this base is unknown. For years it has been assumed to be numbers 300-000 (last dated) and 300-001 (first undated). However, assuming that, as in previous years, slightly more than 200,000 registration numbers would be required for the 1966 registration year and that DMV officials were aware of this as the plates were being manufactured during 1965, and taking into consideration that we have not observed any examples of this base numbered between dated plate no. 299-992 and undated plate no. 320-064, we are left to wonder whether 1966 baseplates may have been dated into the 300-000 series, perhaps up to 320-000. Only by observing examples numbered between 300-001 and 320-000 will be able to estimate when the "67" year designation was removed from the lower right corner to effectively create the undated variety.

Undated plates could not have been issued during the 1966 registration year because the "67" year designation would be absent. However, dated plates leftover from 1966 could have been issued during the 1967 registration year because the year designation would appear in the form of the "68" sticker, making these plates appear identical to plates issued in 1966 and renewed for 1967.

Dated 1966 Baseplates Dated plates that have been used are known from numbers 101-060 through 294-788. As for higher numbers of the dated variety, all are unused. Specifically, many examples from the ranges of 297-744 through 297-999 and 299-553 through 299-992 are held by collectors today.

We know that in the late 1960s or early 1970s the DMV sold surplus, unissued plates at auction, some of which were purchased by collectors. Perhaps 6 lots of 500 pairs each, comprising the range of 297-001 through 299-999, were sold, but only two of the lots were purchased by plate collectors, thus the lack of used or unused plates from 297-001 through 297-500 and 298-001 through 299-500. This is just a guess, and we don't know why these apparently large blocks of plates were unissued. It would be easy to assume that numbers above about 295-000 simply were not needed during the 1966 registration year except that given plate quantities that appear to have been issued in 1965 and earlier years (based upon registration numbers of known used plates), it doesn't seem reasonable that only 195,000 sets of plates would have been be needed from April 1966 through March 1967.

Undated 1966 Baseplates Whereas used examples of the dated variety are relatively common, used undated plates are not. The majority of undated plates held by collectors were never issued and are numbered within the ranges of 366-508 through 366-835 and 367-082 through 367-444. Again, we assume that these plates were among large lots sold as surplus materials by the city government, and all of the documented examples are likely from one large lot, possibly 1,000 pairs numbered 366-501 through 367-500. All unused plates in these ranges have a 1967 ("68") validation sticker with a serial number that ends in the same three digits as the plate number.

Also held by collectors are unused undated plates from outside of the 366-501 through 367-500 range, such as 322-822, 335-452, and 351-393. However, the lack of more than one or two with close numbers suggests that these are isolated unissued plates, not part of a larger span of plates not used.

Passenger - Reserved. Numbers 1 through 1250 were assigned by the Board of Commissioners.

Non-Passenger. The numbering of 1966 base non-passenger plates is consistent with 1965. And, in fact, for the first time in the history of Washington, D.C. license plates, prior-year plates of certain types were revalidated for a new registration year (1966, in this first instance) when auto plates were replaced. Previously, plates of all types, passenger and non-passenger, were replaced (or not) simultaneously.

The black-on-white color scheme and new, narrow dies of 1966 baseplates were actually introduced one year earlier on Commercial plates of 1965 (and marked EXP. 3-31-66 as shown above). These 1965 Commercial plates were revalidated with stickers for several years, and right through the two-year life of the 1966 baseplate, so that there is no Commercial plate on this base. Plates of some types (such as Bus and Livery) were replaced with new black-on-white plates for 1966 that were used beyond the useful life of auto plates of this base, whereas other non-passenger plates (we believe that Rental Car, Medical Doctor and Diplomatic are examples) were replaced in 1966 and 1968 on the same schedule as auto plates.

In short, the period of April 1965 through March 1974 is a confusing one when it comes to identifying when non-passenger plates were issued and replaced. Compounding the problem is that many examples of these plates held by collectors today are unused and thus do not include validation stickers that would provide information as to their period of use. For further information, visit our page dedicated to this period by clicking here.