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After submitting an application to PennDOT for a specialty plate back in May, the East Allen Twp. Vol. Fire Dept. (Northampton County) received this 'design' back from Correctional Industries. It's one step closer. Posted 7/25.

Vern Kreckel III has provided this image showing a '62 Dealer plate with the date embossed. Unlike many of the more common plates that by then had begun to use validation stickers, Dealer plates continued to be embossed up thru 1974 then went to stickers, then back to embossed in '77 and '78, then to stickers. A little confusing. Even though it's embossed, it's shown on the Validation Sticker page with the sticker from that era. Posted 7/25.

I recently posted a Street Rod plate, 5903^S/_R, as the current high. A few days later Bill Ceravola provided this image of his recently received Street Rod plate. He actually received the plate in May, so the actual current high is probably slightly above the 6000 mark.

The Fearnots Volunteer Fire Company (Luzerne County) has joined the ever-growing ranks of fire companies and departments with their own plate. Posted 7/25.

Check out this new and unusual Passenger Vanity plate from Grant MacKenzie. At one time these single letter - single number combinations were reserved for state officials and dignitaries, but now they are available as vanities. However, such combinations are not easy to get as almost all combinations are in use. Posted 7/20.

Spotted this current high Dealer plate on the back of an antique Pontiac at a recent car show. Posted 7/20.

Eric Conner shares this Operation Iraqi Freedom plate image. The interesting thing about this plate is that if from the reserve issue group, which was from 00001 to 00099. The general issue plates began at 00100. So what is the significance of the reserve issue group? You can form your own opinion. Whenever I tried to get answers to questions about such things, I received a bunch of double talk and stonewalling. Posted 7/15.

Lebanon Valley College is giving their plate a colorful facelift (far left) as it switches to the visitPA base. Posted 7/15.

Spotted this 'first of the series' Antique Motorcycle plate. In this case the series is what I refer to as Format 10. Format 10 is the latest Antique Motorcycle series with the formatting being letter-number-letter, making this the first. Unfortunately the plate has managed to become quite dirty in a short period time. Once this series fills up, the next series will likely be 0AA formatting. Posted 7/15.

The plate on the far left is a first generation Fire Fighter plate. In fact this was the first Special Organization plate offered in PA. The first year of issue was 1983, thus it was introduced prior to the 1984 plate switchover to yellow on blue. All of the first generation Fire Fighter plates remained with the blue on yellow format right up to the plate changeover to the www base around 2000. The series ran from FF00001 to FF24999, although the run probably never reached that high. Sample plates, on the other hand, probably appeared after the 1984 change, so they wore the opposite colors. The plate with the Keystone State legend is incorrect. It should read Fire Fighter. Also the plate legend was reversed. Posted 7/6.

These were also provisions at the start of the Fire Fighter plate program to allow vanities. A few (hundred?) were produced and shortly this option was taken off the table, however, contrary to what some plate enthusiasts believe, they were not recalled. And when the www plates were issued, those who still had the original Fire Fighter vanities, were given the same alphanumeric format on the new base. There is still a small number of theses on the road today. Click link to see the current version of these. Images courtesy of www.pl8s.com. Posted 7/6.

Salvage Yard truck gets salvaged. This image, courtesy of the East Allen Township Fire Dept., shows a salvage yard vehicle that ran astray and found its way into a home. No one was injured but the truck and the home didn't fare quite so well. Plate looks unscathed. Posted 7/6.

This vanity plate image is from my son, Jim McDevitt. The plate kids of speaks for itself. Posted 7/6.

Steve Ondik provided this image of a Caddy wearing nothing but a G. This plate is considered a Passenger Vanity. These single letter plates are extremely rare with a theoretical maximum of 26 plates. That is assuming letters such as I and O are used. Posted 7/2.

Here is a Farm Truck sample, and has been added to the Plate History Page. This uncommon sample was provided courtesy of Paul Bagnarol. Posted 7/2.

Chuck Harrington provided these two PA0000 plate/sticker images. These images have been added to the Plate Stickers Page. Posted 7/2.

If anyone wondered if there would be Motorcycle Vanity Plates issued on the Live Free Ride Alive base, Bruce Bufalini has answered the question with this image. Since this base is intended to be a limited run of 60,000 plates, it did raise the question about vanity plates. Posted 6/28.

Here's a beautiful specimen of a We The People - U.S. Constitution plate, nice number also. For anyone not familiar, this is the only remaining yellow on blue plate still valid in PA. Posted 6/28.

Here's the first image of an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. plate which was provided by Heather Butera-Howell. She took the picture with a phone camera thru a thick plastic cover. Posted 6/28.

In a bit of a departure from the ordinary, I'm posting a group of plates that didn't make it. In other words, for one reason or another, a particular plate program never made it onto the street. Actually this Antique Automobile Club of America plate has even more mystery to it. It does not say Pennsylvania or PA on it; and it looks nothing like a typical organizational plate. I'm sure someone will provide more on this plate. The plate image was provided by Michael Wiener. Posted 6/26.

How about a Commercial Dealer plate? Don't head down to the local Ford dealer hoping to find one of these. This may have been a mock up or proposed plate, but to my knowledge never went into production despite having a 75 validation sticker. Posted 6/26.

Franklin & Marshal has a plate program today, but that came about in 2006. This sample plate is from an earlier effort back in the 90s that never got out of the chute. Posted 6/26.

This Rajah Temple A.A.O.N.M.S. sample plate is likely also the result of an organization embarking on a plate program and the program running out of gas. This was often the result of not reaching the minimum number of required plates, which at that time I believe was 300.

There were other plates with similar outcomes — Knights Templar, Special Olympics, and others. I'll post more at a later date. Posted 6/26.

Added this first generation Blue Lodge plate image to the Organizational Plate History Page. Note the absence of the word SAMPLE on this plate. This plate type dates back to 1984, right after the special organization plate program began, and samples did not use the word sample at that time. If anyone has actual (non-sample) plates or images of these three types, images would be appreciated. Posted 6/23.

I was very surprised to spot this old beat-up Special Mobile plate in use on an active well drilling rig, but what was even more surprising was the plate format. The Special Mobile Equipment plate series began around 1984 starting with SME-0000 to SME-9999, then went to 0000-SME to 9999-SME. After that series was exhausted, there was a relatively short run starting with SME-000A and possibly going into the SME-000C series, before switching to the the www base at SME-000D in 1999. Because of this short run, this is the first of this format I have seen. Unfortunately it's pretty beat up from years of pounding water wells. If anyone has a nicer image or more information on this plate type, you input would be welcome. Posted 6/21.

This unusual Dealer-Multi Purpose sample plate image was provided by Jeff Minard. This plate type has always been a bit of a mystery. I have seen them on small trucks with utility bodies and on towing vehicles. They are fairly rare. PennDOT states "The primary purpose of a multipurpose dealer registration plate is for dealers or manufacturers that have more than one vehicle (truck or trailer), but do not have those vehicles on the road simultaneously. Generally, when dealers or manufacturers have only one vehicle (truck or trailer) in their possession, there is no advantage for a multipurpose registration plate to be purchased since the fee is exactly the same as the required registration fee for that vehicle". They are also for use on second stage vehicles, i.e., "A Second-Stage Manufacturer is defined as a person engaged in performing manufacturing operations on an incomplete vehicle produced by a manufacturer". Whatever. If anyone has an image of an actual yellow on blue plate of this type, it would be much appreciated. Posted 6/21.

The Expeditionary Forces plate image on the near left shows a slight formatting difference from the older plate on the far left. Note the placement of the stacked EF prefix on the earlier plate forms a vertical line with the small E in the plate legend above it. On the later version, which was provided by Heather Butera-Howell, the vertical EF prefix is moved left and no longer aligns with the E in Expeditionary above. My guess is that the plates above 1000 were made in a later batch and the formatting changed a bit. I'd like to confirm this with another sighting and then list the plates as format 1 and format 2. Posted 6/18.

Vern Kreckel III provides this '68 passenger plate validation sticker as an addition to the Plate Sticker Page. Posted 6/18.

And finally to fill more of the gaps in the sticker page, Vern provided this 1974 truck sticker.

Fellow ALPCA member Ned Flynn sends along this image of a Delaware Valley Triumphs Ltd. plate. This is the first image of this relatively new plate type. Posted 6/12.

Spotted this Duquesne University plate the other day. It's a little nicer than the previous posting. Posted 6/12.

This is not the first appearance of this 83rd US Open held at Oakmont Country Club in 1983, but this is a better quality image, courtesy of Chuck Harrington. Unfortunately today's special event plates, at least those for golf tournaments, are all made of cardboard. Posted 6/9.

This image of a U.S. Navy Veteran plate is somewhat better than the original one posted back in mid-April. Posted 6/9.

Here's an Official Use front plate provided by Chuck Harrington. Very nice plate. Not sure just how, where and when the plate was used; however, most likely on the front of some state owned vehicle. Posted 6/7.

Here's another specimen on the Live Free Ride Alive motorcycle base. Considering these recently started in the L series, they are now now in the N series. As previously posted only 60 thousand of these will be made, and each letter series represents 10 thousand plates. Posted 6/7.

This is the first image of a Brookhaven Fire Co. No. 1 plate. The image was provided by Jay Hughes. Posted 6/4.

Grant MacKenzie sends these two photos showing innovation and creativity in using PA license plates to help accentuate the recent installation of a new rear window. This was spotted outside of a Wal-Mart. Seems to go with the "Save money, live better" theme. Posted 6/1.

Clayton Moore reminds me that the yellow on blue Apportioned and Mass Transit plates were made of steel rather than aluminum. Posted 6/1.

This is the first time I've seen the #1 Penn State Alumni Association plate — this plate bearing the older Nittany Lion or 'Pozniak Lion', named after the illustrator. This symbol, which dates back to 1985 on plates, was replaced in 2005 by the Official Penn State Mark on the newer visitPA base. While this lion symbol may have been replaced, there are thousands of these older plates still on the road showing their 'Lion Pride'. Can't tell I'm a Penn Stater can you? By the way, the image of this nice plate was provided by Nick Tsilakis. Posted 5/29.

First image of a Concordville Fire and Protective Association plate. Nice plate! With this and the plate below the number of needed fire plate images is down to 33. It's a loosing battle with the proliferation of fire plates. And to think — there are some 2400 fire companies in PA. Posted 5/25.

Spotted the NASCAR plate on the far left the other day. I knew something was different about it judging by the serial number (after the prefix) beginning with 1. It turns out this is the newer NASCAR 88 plate of Dale Jr. (2008-09 racing season). The other (older) NASCAR 88 plate on the near left is that of Dale Jarrett (2004-06 racing season). Posted 5/24, updated 5/25.

Added this image of a Penn State Alumni Association sample on the visitPA base. Samples on the visitPA base are rare and always warrant a closer look, or in this case an image. It's not mine, so don't ask me to sell it. Posted 5/24.

Here's a windshield shot of the current high Perm(ament)-Trailer plate. Note the lack of any validation sticker since these are permanent. Posted 5/23.

Here's another windshield shot, this time of an Apportioned Bus. Unlike the above picture that was taken in stop-and-go traffic, this was taken at at highway speed on the interstate. I'm really surprised it came out as well as it did considering the speed, distance and zoom factor. It is also the current high on this type. And yes, still on the www base. I've been told not to expect to see this plate on the visitPA base due to the high number of plates produced on the www base and the relatively low number of registrations. As of the end of 2009 there were only 627 Apportioned Buses registered in PA. By comparison, there were only 207 of these registered in 1999. So if the numbers continue to grow, and if PA holds off on a major plate reissue, eventually it should happen. Posted 5/23.

Here's a Shriners plate image provided by Steve Ondik. To my knowledge, this plate type has not made the transition to the visitPA base yet. Posted 5/23.

These Live Free Ride Alive plates are certainly out there, although I've yet to see one on the road. This image was provided by Bill Ceravola. I did see one of these at the PennDOT plate window that was in the N series. The letter is the series marker — the character that advances last. PennDOT will produce 60 thousand of these Live Free plates then revert back to the standard motorcycle plate design. That should take the run thru M, N, P, R, S, and into the T series. The letters O, Q & U are normally not used. My previous statement that this series appears to have started at 8000L may or may not be correct. The series may have started at 5000L. As the plates become more common, the starting point should reveal itself. Posted 5/22.

This very nice National Guard plate was recently acquired from a fellow ALPCA member. Plate type dates back to 1987. Posted 5/21.

This St. Thomas More Alumni Assn. is part of a Philadelphia high school. The plate is pretty beat. One day I was admiring the plate owner's current plate on the www base when he opened his trunk and handed me this plate. At the time this plate would have been in the trunk for several years. Plate type dates back to 1997 Posted 5/21.

This U.S Armed Forces Retired plate image came to me as a surprise from a relative of my wife. The plate type was discontinued in 2006. Plate type dates back to 1990. Posted 5/21.

This super nice Vietnam Veterans of America plate came from a friend. Plate type dates back to 1992. Posted 5/21.

Here's an interesting pair of School Vehicle plates. Notice the numerical sequence is only eight (8) numbers apart. Also notice the plate formatting is quite different, with the upper plate using a narrow tag legend while the other plate uses a wider format. Also note the use of a keystone separator on the lower plate. It appears that this a formatting change at SV-19800 and not some kind of error. These kinds of changes have been common with this plate type. Posted 5/18.

This Antique Vehicle image was taken on 5/15 and is the current high. For anyone not familiar with this plate type, the T is the series marker, and therefore is the last character to advance. Also the letters I, O, Q and U would not be used in this series, or most other plate types in PA. In addition plate series P00A - P99Z is reserved for Person with Disability Motorcycle plates and would not be duplicated. Posted 5/17.

This is the first 1995 Governor's Inauguration plate I have seen. It's also the only one with a validation sticker, as all other issues have the year embossed or screened on the plate. This image was provided by Chuck Harrington. Posted 5/16.

Changed again! Nick Tsilakis reports spotting School Vehicle plate SV-20872, again using the keystone separator. This is also a new high. My previously high plate, SV20383, shown here, without a separator. This is at least the 7th, if not the 8th format change on this plate type since the changeover to the www base. I don't think any other PA plate has seen so many variations in as short a period. The variations consist of narrow and wide tag legends, and the intermittent use of the keystone separator. This plate type seems to be produced in small quantities and with each batch something changes. Sorry, no image yet. These plates are generally used on school vans and smaller vehicles with a seating capacity of 10 or under. Posted 5/16.

First images and first plate form Cedar Crest College (Allentown, PA). Posted 5/14.

I suppose it was only a matter of time till I posted another plate history page. This new history page will focus on the organizational plates dating back to the 1983 when the Fire Fighter plate was first issued up to the point of the plate changeover in 1999-2000. Therefore it will include only those plates that got their start on the yellow on blue base, except for the Fire Fighter which was always blue on yellow prior to the changeover. This page will not include those plate that came along after the changeover to the www base. The new page is in its infancy and contains very little at this point.

The plate shown here is a Telephone Pioneers of America sample and was provided by Selanda Leetphreak. Posted 5/14.

Finally, here's the first image of the new LiveFreeRideAlive.com Motorcycle plate. The image was provided by Jerry McCoy. This series appears to have started at 8000L. Presumably there are still a number of plates on the visitPA base in the F, G, H, J, K, and L series (below 8000) in the hands of dealers and tag services that have yet to be issued. I'm curious to see if M/C vanity plates will be available on this base. Posted 5/7.

Spotted this somewhat unusual 2-character Motorcycle vanity plate. 4 and 5 digit vanity plates are common but 2-digit plates are rare. There is no overlapping of plate configurations between passenger and motorcycle plates. In other words there won't be a passenger plate with XL. Posted 5/4.

I'm guessing that this Veteran Motorcycle plate is somewhere close to the high point for this series. This plate type began at V0100. The curved plate frame makes squaring up the image more of a challenge than I was up for. Posted 5/4.

Attended the annual Spring Thaw Rendezvous sponsored by the Northampton Fire Department on 5/1. This event is always a good early season opportunity to spot plates. The plate shown here is the current high Motorcycle; however, with upwards of 1000 bikes at this event I was expecting to see at least one of the new LiveFreeRideAlive.com plates. Prototype image below. Seems strange that a plate that was supposedly released on March 17, and is now listed as the redesigned regular series, was not anywhere among so many bikes. Posted 5/2.

Back on February 10, I did a rather extensive write up on the rise and fall of NASCAR plates. Little did I know at the time that the NASCAR plate program would reach the finish line, but it has. As of today there is no more Victory Junction / NASCAR plate program in PA. PennDOT has pulled the plug. Existing plates should still be renewable. Posted 5/1.

Eric Conner has provided these two updated images of a 1930 Governor's license plate. The coats-of-arms on two of the 1930s (there are actually 3 - 1930 Governor's plates shown on the Governor's Plate Page) are not decals like later plates, but rather each one is hand-painted and signed by an artist named "Rice." These might be the only hand-painted coat-of-arms Governors' plates. The second image is the only autographed governor plate known and it is autographed by the governor for whom the plate was made, John S. Fisher. Posted 5/1.

Great plate, illegal frame. Why get such a nice plate and then completely block out the top and bottom plate legends? If you haven't figured it out it's a PA Chiropractic Association plate. Image provided by Bill Ceravola. Posted 4/29.

Here's another image from Jay Embee. We have the # 1 plate from the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology that the owner decided to partially obscure with a dealer advertisement frame. Posted 4/23.

I've been trying for quite a while to find one of these yellow on blue Taxi plates, or at least a good image. For a variety of reasons very few plates of this vintage have survived. Anyway, many thanks to Jay Embee for the nice image. This image will be displayed on the Plate History Page. Posted 4/21.

I recently spotted the Blue Lodge plate on the far left. If you look closely at these plates you can see three plate variations within the span of 387 plates. The plates show a transition from the www base on the far left, to the visitPA base with embossed tag legend, logo and ^M/_B on the center left, and finally the last plate shows the flat screened legend, logo and ^M/_B. This is not a new discovery but the ^M/_B11269 plate helped to narrow down where the first changeover took place. I would like to see a plate in the 11500 - 599 series to narrow down the next transition point. Posted 4/19.

Bill Ceravola recently snapped this Vietnam Vets (Veterans of Vietnam War, Inc.) plate image. One might ask how can a plate that should have been replaced 10 years ago still be in use? The likely answer is that the owner received the replacement plate but never put it on, since both plates would have the same number. If the police run the number, it comes back as being correctly registered. Posted 4/19.

Nick Tsilakis has provided this first image of a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran plate. Nice image. One unexpected finding is that this plate type started in the 10000 block of numbers rather than 00000. This suggests that another organization has the 00000^M/_C block of numbers but has not yet released their plate. Plates don't always come out in the same order that an organization was assigned a group of numbers. Posted 4/17.

This Combat Wounded Veteran - Purple Heart plate, also provided by Nick Tsilakis, should have been replaced in late 2004 / early 2005; however, it's still in use with a current sticker. These plates were replaced on a number-for-number basis making it easy to continue using the old plate. See also the History Page for all three versions of this plate. Posted 4/17.

This is the first image of a U.S. Navy Veteran plate. Image was taken in traffic. Posted 4/17.

Here's an image of a very low numbered Save Wild Animals - Tiger plate. The image was taken by Tom Perri and forwarded to me by Jordan Irazabal. Posted 4/13.

Here's a pair of not-so-identical University of Pittsburgh twins. The plate on the far left, possibly a prototype sample, uses the old tag legend, 'Pitt Bicentennial' from the previous yellow on blue issue. Also the logo lacks much of the detail of the later plate. Posted 4/13.

The previous Gettysburg College sample was replaced with this nicer image. While there is nothing remarkable about this sample, actual Gettysburg plates are unique in that they are one of a very few with a 4-digit serial number, almost all others use 5-digit displays. Posted 4/13.

This image was provided by Michael Wiener. Ostensibly it has the formatting of what could be a Lt. Governor's plate on a 1987 base; however, Governors' and Lt. Governors' plates were not believed to have been used beyond the 1977 base plates which continued to be used at least until 1983. So what is this plate? Perhaps a Lt. Governor plate that was never used, or maybe some kind of courtesy plate. Michael Wiener was not able to provide much information. Also, it is unknown if the companion # 1 Governor's plate existed. Posted 4/5.

PennDOT promotes motorcycle safety thru a motorcycle safety training campaign and by redesigning its motorcycle license plate with the web address of the campaign website, LiveFreeRideAlive.com.

In promotion of PennDOT’s “Live Free Ride Alive” motorcycle safety campaign, PennDOT has redesigned the regular series motorcycle registration plate. The plate contains the Web address of the campaign Web site, “LiveFreeRideAlive.com,” at the bottom of the plate. This is a limited edition motorcycle registration plate and will be the standard issued motorcycle plate until inventory is depleted. PennDOT began issuing the redesigned motorcycle registration plate effective March 17, 2010. The redesigned motorcycle plate will be available to agents for their inventory by early April, for issuance to their customers.

Customers, who wish to replace their current regular series motorcycle registration plate with the "LiveFreeRideAlive.com" motorcycle plate, must complete Form MV-44, "Application for Duplicate Registration Card, Replacement of Registration Plate, Renewal Sticker or Weight Class Sticker." In Section B, customers will check the "replacement plate" block and in the "other" block write "Live Free Ride Alive." The replacement registration plate fee is $7.50 each.

This is the first image of a University of Pittsburgh (Official) plate on the visitPA base. These images were provided by Eric Conner. Note the use of both a rear and front plate, one of only a few so issued in PA. On 1/22 Bruce Bufalini spotted one of these with U1111P and reported this new version. There is also a section on the plate history page showing the earliest University of Pittsburgh (Official) plate. Posted 4/2.

These images of April 2015 stickers were provided by David Hobbs. Before you run out and try to renew your car for 5 years, this option is limited to certain trailers. Posted 4/2.

The plate image on the far left is an Organ Donors Save Lives plate provided by Steve Ondik. This is also the reported high. The other image is the same plate after a visit to Photoshop. Posted 3/30.

This first image of an Animal Friends plate was provided by fellow ALPCA member Bruce Bufalini. Image was taken in traffic. Click on Bruce's name to see his website. Posted 3/26.

West Shore EMS (Camp Hill) will offer its members an attractive specialty plate. Posted 3/26.

This unique photo provided by Andy Keim shows a rare PA Auto Manufacturer plate being affixed to a VW Rabbit at the VW plant in Westmorland County. The image is actually a photo of a page of the July 1979 Volkswagen Mirror. Click image to enlarge.

Several months ago, long time contributor Chuck Harrington provided a nice image of one of these plates as well as additional information on the plate. This write-up is listed under Auto Manufacturer on the Plate History page. Posted 3/24.

The Commercial Implement of Husbandry plate is one of PA's rarest plates. So when I saw this fertilizer spreader truck, I had to snap an image. This series started at CI1500H on the www base, making this one of the earliest ones issued. Obviously time and the relentless assault of granular fertilizer have taken their toll on this plate. Click the link above to see a nicer image.

- - This plate was issued on the previous base but I have never seen one and the history of it may very well be lost. If anyone knows anything of the this plate's predecessor, please let me know what you have.

- - There is also a non-commercial Implement of Husbandry plate which is even more elusive. Again anyone having such a plate or a neighbor with such a plate on their John Deere, please let me know. My goal is not for the betterment of this website nearly as much as it is to preserve the history of some of the rarest plate types. Posted 3/24.

Oh really!? I've never seen anything quite like this in PA, and there was no temporary registration document in the rear window. Posted 3/20.

Chuck Harrington provides this county-based 1975 Governor's Inauguration plate representing Clearfield County. The Inaugural Plates Section of the Governors' Plate Page also shows plates from Cameron County and Philadelphia County for 1975, as well as more than two dozen other PA inaugural plates.

For those interested in such plates, the Pennsylvania Governors' Plates page depicts more that three dozen historical governors' plates. Posted 3/19.

Added this unusual Susquehanna University sample plate image. If you compare the sample to an actual plate, the sample uses Title Case while the actual plate uses Small Caps on the tag legend. Posted 3/19.

Also added this University of Scranton sample. Again there is a difference between the sample and actual plate. In this case the sample tag line is lower than that of the sample. Posted 3/19.

Press Photographer on visitPA base spotted. Fellow ALPCAn, Jason Cowdell, reported seeing a Press Photographer plate on the visitPA base. The odd thing is that it was plate number PP416. The current high is somewhere above PP760, and to my knowledge are still being issued on the www base. Jason and I share the opinion that the plate is likely a remake. He was driving in the York PA area at the time and not able to get an image. Posted 3/16.

Therapy Dogs United, Erie PA, now has a specialty plate available. It appears that these plates are available to the public. Posted 3/16.

Two on one. Here's a rollback (flatbed towing vehicle) with two license plates, not counting the one on board for the ride. The images are poor as it was raining and almost dark, but after a few adjustments of brightness and contrast we have a usable picture. For anyone not familiar with PA plates, the plate on the left is a standard Truck plate, while the other is a Repair Towing plate. The Repair Towing plate is also the current reported high. Posted 3/14.

Plates look the same? Look again, the logo on the left Persian Gulf War Veteran plate is inverted. Somehow the initial run of these plates were made incorrectly, then at about the ^P/_G01270 plate (far left), the error was discovered and subsequent plates were correct. If requested, the earlier plates were replaced. The ^P/_G01898 image was provided by Brent W. Thompson. Posted 3/13.

Another addition to the Plate History Page: As for dealer types, the Trailer Dealer plate has had a relatively short history having been released in 1995. Only two versions of this plate are known to exist. I believe the number of current issue plates remains under 1000 making this an uncommon sighting. This plate is not yet known to exist on the visitPA base. Posted 3/11.

As part of the Plate History Page, both versions of the Civil Defense plate have been added along with a link to the County Codes. These plates were issued during the cold war years of the 1950s and 60s; however, the exact years of issue are unknown (by me). Plates were issued by the State Office of Civil Defense, today known as the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency or PEMA, and were distributed by PA's 67 county CD offices. Plates were front mounted on vehicles, and were given to people who had a role in civil defense. All plates measure 4" by 9½". The first part of the plate number represents the county code, the second part is the plate serial number, all are undated. Posted 3/9.

The weather this past weekend in PA was beautiful — blue skies, mild temperatures and melting snow. So while my wife shopped, I scoped the parking lot and came away with a few treasures of my own. This is the first image of a U.S. Air Force Veteran plate. Posted 3/8.

This is not the first U.S. Army Veteran plate image on this site, but certainly worth getting an image of. The 357 serial number suggests that these plates are selling pretty well considering the fact that they did not come out until late November 2009. Posted 3/8.

Even with 4H activity in the area, these 4-H Youth Program plates are not common. Posted 3/8.

Here's another image of the latest plate from Penn State University. The starting point for this plate was 10000^P/_S. Posted 3/8.

Added image of this hard-to-come-by Ohio State Alumni sample image. Posted 3/6.

Also added image of this Lafayette College (Easton, PA) sample plate. Lafayette samples are not only unusual, but in this case, the plate legend on the sample plate differs from the production plate. Note the use of ALL CAPS on the sample and Small Caps on the issued plate. Posted 3/6.

A new section on Taxi plates has been added to the Plate History Page. As stated in yesterday's post on Taxi plates, I need a yellow-on-blue taxi plate or image. Posted 3/4.

These images are of the current observed high Taxi plate. These images may look good as thumbnails, unfortunately when enlarged the otherwise nice plate is wearing an ugly coat of road dirt, a plentiful commodity in PA this winter.

While on the subject of Taxi plates, I would like to do an addition to the plate history section on Taxi plates, but I need a yellow-on-blue taxi plate or image. Trying to find one, or even a nice image, seems just about impossible. Were all the older plates sent back when PA re-plated? Anyway, if anyone has one for sale or has a decent image, please let me know. Posted 3/3.

Added a 5-digit version of the 64 base School Bus plate to the Plate History Page. This plate bearing a 67 validation sticker. The earliest plates on the '58 and '64 bases were 4-digit. It is not known how high the 5-digit serial numbers progressed on the '58 or '64 bases, but I have never seen one on either base that reached 20000.

At this point I think the School Bus section of the Plate History Page represents all the bases and variations known, plus a few samples. Posted 2/28.

Updated the '56 and '57 School Bus plate images. These were the first two years for School Bus plates in PA. To my knowledge there were no 5-digit plates issued in these years. After 57, PA went to multi-year plates. Posted 2/28.

Updated image of the 77 base Municipal Motorcycle plate in the History section. It is my belief that the MG000 plates on the '77 base are no longer in use while 000MG plates on the same base are still in use. This is based on the fact that '77 base 000MG plates are still seen on the road and MG000 plates on the 77 base would have number duplications with MG000 plates on the 84 base. For that reason I have removed this plate format from the current Municipal Motorcycle listing and show it only on the History Page. Posted 2/26.

John Netzlof sent a couple images of police vehicles used in the making of Tony Scott's Unstoppable from last September. There are state police and municipal (Wilkins County sheriff) vehicles pictured. (There is no Wilkins County in PA.) John worked as an extra as a Sheriff's Deputy. He described the plates as non-embossed plastic or cardboard. Except for the font, the PA Official Use plate on the state police looks fairly authentic. The Municipal plate on the other hand, is harder to read and has an alpha character in the first position, which is not unusual for a movie prop. He also stated that there were Fire / Rescue vehicles with movie prop plates but he got no pictures of them. Posted 2/22.

All skewed up! Another gem from Nick Tsilakis shows a Passenger Oddball (error) plate where the serial number is skewed. Posted 2/16.

Concerning NASCAR Plates, Steve Ondik commented that the popiular drivers are the ones that have sold while the unpopular drivers have not. The 'BIG' names in NASCAR sell: Jeff Gordon (24), Jimmie Johnson (48), Dale Earnhardt (3) and Dale Earnhardt Jr (8, now 88), Mark Martin (6, now 5), Kevin Harvick (29), Tony Stewart (20, now 14).

And then you have drivers that have a following, but probably not where a PA car owner wants to pay extra to put a plate representative of their driver on their car.

So as 'predictable' as some fans THINK their driver is, and will NEVER change car numbers, the last two to three years have caused most fans to rethink that process. When Mark Martin said he would retire (from a car numbered 6), no one expected him to reappear in a car numbered 5 a year later. No one expected Dale Earnhardt Jr to leave DALE EARNHARDT, INC.

As for value to these plates, to the NASCAR fan, the 'popular' drivers plates might be worth something to the NASCAR fan no matter what state the plate is from, but probably not worth a lot. To the PA collector, ANY one of these should bring a decent price, but the ones that were issued in smaller quantities should of course bring a higher value. Posted 2/16.

The Rise and Fall of NASCAR Plates — In late 2004, PA embarked on a license plate undertaking that seemed to

be a radical departure from the past. This was at the same time passenger, vanity and specialty plates were switching over to the visitPA base. NASCAR plates were on their way. Unlike the one-plate-per-organization, 33 different NASCAR types were to be issued, all available at the same time. This plate program was being sponsored by the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a special camp for kids with health care needs. So 33 plates were available for the 2004 racing season, which only lasted until March of 2005 when a new listing of plates was issued for the 2005 racing season. This time there were 34 plates available, many were the same as the previous season, but there were several changes, as teams, sponsors and drivers changed. When 2006 arrived, the number of plate types dropped to 32. For 2007 and 2008 the number of available plates dropped way back to 10, and for 2009 there are only 9 types available.

So what has caused this big decline in plate types? In a word — sales. A related question that has always bothered me, why are some NASCAR plate types so common and other types so elusive? Efforts to get sales or production figures have been futile; however, I have been able to put together some numbers which paint an interesting picture. Several types have sold in the 500 to 750 range, with the NASCAR 8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. exceeding 1000. The 500 to 750 group includes NASCAR 24 Jeff Gordon, NASCAR 3 Dale Earnhardt Legacy and NASCAR 3 Dale Earnhardt. A number of others have only sold in the 100 – 200 range, and surprisingly about 24 types have not hit 100, several of these only selling 1, 2 or 3 plates. And as best as I can determine, about 9 types had no sales — zero. I have always wondered why I have been unable to spot and photograph more types. The answer is quite apparent with so many having such lackluster sales. This also means that a number of plate types are now extinct and none of the plates made it to the street. Would a plate with only 1 or 2 being issued of a less popular driver have more value than a high issue plate of a very popular driver?

While I am admittedly not a NASCAR enthusiast, nor am I knowledgeable about cars, drivers, teams, etc., I have maintained a meticulous matrix of the PA NASCAR plates since the first issue, along with the annual changes. In all, about 52 types have been issued, and even within a particular type there have been variations such as the NASCAR 29 plate of Kevin Harvick. For 2004 thru 2006 the graphic had a red and black outlined white numbers, while the 2007 plate used the same number with a black outlined red number. Both versions are listed as Type X7. There is a similar situation with NASCAR 99 of Carl Edwards where altogether three different variations of the 99 graphic exist on plates. So what's coming for the 2010 racing season? Check back in early April.

The NASCAR 31 Jeff Burton plate image above was provided by Lee Merrick, and the NASCAR 29 sample was courtesy of Paul Bagnarol. Posted 2/10.

This is the first image of a Pennsylvania College of Technology plate. The reason for the initial '1' is that Purdue University has the first block of numbers with the ^P/_C suffix. The Pennsylvania College of Technology is located in Williamsport, and is affiliated with Penn State. Posted 2/8.

Spotted this 'first of the series' Penn State Alumni Association plates recently. I believe the ^P/_S25000 was the starting point for the newer graphic plates issued on the visitPA base. (^P/_S24938 was confirmed on the older series.) Not sure what the small sticker is in the lower right corner, possibly a Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs baseball symbol, but it's not an original part of the plate. Posted 2/8.

This is the first image of the new graphic style Lock Haven University plate. The previous style was on the www base. Click the link to see both styles. Posted 2/6.

Not sure what to make of this 1966 Motor Vehicle Business plate with a 69 sticker. I have two other '66 embossed plates with stickers — one for '67 and the other for '68. Why were some '66 plates renewed with stickers, while at the same time embossed '67, '68 and '69 plates were issued. The other odd thing is that the '67 and '68 re-validated plates had the sticker placed over the embossed 66, while this one is all alone and does not show evidence of earlier stickers. Posted 2/6.

Plate Trivia. On the Official Plates page under Official Use - Commonwealth of Pa Owned plates, the changeover point from blue-on-white plates to white-on-blue plates has been verified at PA-56000. Previously it was known that the changeover took place between PA-53000 and PA-56000. Recently I spotted a plate in the PA-55000 series that was still on the blue-on-white base. It was known that plates in the PA-56000 series were white-on-blue. These older plates are not normally seen on PennDOT trucks but are still common on the campuses of state run universities and state hospitals. Circumstances at the time did not permit a picture. The images above are just for reference. Posted 2/6.

Spotted this low number Knights of Columbus plate just asking to be photographed. This organization is supposed to have a more colorful plate revision in the works, but none has been seen or reported yet. Current high on this plate type is around ^K/_C02348. Posted 2/3.

Andrew Laver, President, Syracuse University Philadelphia Alumni Club has provided these images of two Syracuse University Alumni Association plates from the first batch produced, including the #1 plate. Andrew has also provided this link to plate ordering information — www.suphillyalumni.org. In his words. "The SU plates are available to Orange alums and fans alike, so no one is excluded or prohibited from buying." Posted 1/29.

Added this framed image of a National MS Society plate. Image was taken under less than ideal lighting conditions. Posted 1/24.

Tinicum Township Fire Company, Essington, Delaware County, joins the ranks of the ever growing list of PA fire companies with specialty license plates. Posted 1/24.

Bruce Bufalini shares this plate information: He recently spotted a University of Pittsburgh - Official plate on the visitPA base. Plate was number U1111P. He saw it in traffic and was not able to get a picture. Posted 1/22.

Added this prototype image of a new plate for the Jefferson Fire Company, West Norriton Township, Montgomery County. Posted 1/22.

This is just another update of the 1977 (Version 12) M.V. Business plate with this slightly nicer image. Posted 1/19.

Want a vanity plate in PA but don't know if what you want is available?

PennDOT Introduces Online Service to Check Availability of Personalized Plates

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Drivers can now go online to check the availability of personalized license plates before submitting an application to PennDOT.

"Pennsylvanians have requested that the option to check personalized license plate availability be added to our increasing list of online driver and vehicle services," said Kurt J. Myers, PennDOT's deputy secretary for safety administration. "We are listening to our customers and are pleased to add this online service."

To check availability, visit www.dmv.state.pa.us, select the "Online Driver and Vehicle Services" link on the left-hand navigation bar. Then, choose "Personalized Vanity Plate Availability."

Individuals may apply for a personalized license plate by completing Form MV-904, "Application for Special Registration Plate." There is a one-time application fee of $20.

PennDOT's online driver and vehicle services are always available and include driver's license and photo ID renewals; vehicle registration renewal; driver-history services; change of address; and exam scheduling. There are no additional fees for using online services.

The Swedeland Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1 (Upper Merion Twp., Montgomery Co.) joins the ever-growing list of PA fire companies with a new specialty plate. Posted 1/15.

This is the fourth format used on the Temporary Intransit series since 2000. (These are used on vehicles purchased out of state.) The difference in the formatting of these cardboard beauties is the watermark. Click the above link to see all four versions of this plate. This one uses Pennsylvania over Department of Transportation followed by a PennDOT keystone. Unfortunately this plate is somewhat weathered and therefor a little hard to see. Posted 1/15.

Misericordia University will soon be hosting a college plate of their own. The reason for the leading 1 is because Marshall University has the first block of numbers with the ^M/_U suffix. Posted 1/15.

The Mount St. Mary's University plate which had been on the Pending/Proposed list since February of 2009, is now considered an active plate. Posted 1/11.

A number of validation sticker images were provided by Vern Kreckel III. These are posted on the Validation Sticker Page. Posted 1/7.

Updated the 1977 (Version 12) M.V Business plate with this image. The M.V. Business section of the Plate History page now has 16 images all depicting a different year or different validation. Posted 1/5.

This Motor Home plate is the current reported high plate. I presently have 5 images of this plate type on the visitPA base ranging from HH-01271 to HH-20057 and so far there does not appear to be any formatting changes. Posted 1/3.

During the period of 1967 - 1969, there were new M.V. Business plates issued each year with the year embossed; however, at the same time some 1966 plates were renewed with 67, 68 and 69 validation stickers over the embossed 66. All of the revalidated plates seem to be in the series C45-00C to C99-99D, while the starting point for natural plates during that period was C00-00A. Why were some plates revalidated, while at the same time new embossed plates were being issued? Posted 1/3.

This Farm Truck image provided by Clayton Moore helps narrow down the changeover point between Version 1 and Version 2. The change likely occurred somewhere between FM-44000 and FM-48000. Posted 1/3.

On the Plate History Page, Clayton Moore identified an additional type variation that I did not have, and provided this image. The earliest Farm Truck plates (Version 1) were blue on yellow. The highest number on that series that I have seen is in the FM-32000 series. The next series of plates is what is depicted here. I have listed this plate as Version 2. Note the wide FARM TRUCK font. Version 3 of this plates is still yellow on blue but uses a narrow tag line font. Then Version 4 goes wide again. Finally Version 5 of this plate is on the www base. There are no reports of this plate type being issued yet on the visitPA base.

This raises two questions: At what point did Version 1 switch to Version 2? And with so many variations on the yellow on blue plates, it raises the question, could there be other variations between the FM-32000 series and the FM-48000 series? Posted 1/2/2010