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Pennsylvania Plate Coding

Page updated 01/29/2012

 GO TO CODE TABLE

Below is an alpha-numeric table showing prefix and suffix codes.  The data has been collected from many sources, most of which are plate photos, personal observations, plate collections, and information received from various sources.  I don’t claim to be the authoritative source on the subject; in fact I welcome input, suggestions, corrections, etc.  This 'work in progress' will never be complete.  There are always new plates coming out, there are formatting changes as a particular alpha-numeric series fills up, and there may be plates listed for which I have no plate code or formatting information.  These show with question marks.

The page is arranged with the first two columns listing prefixes and suffixes in alpha-numeric order.  Some of the plate prefixes are fixed.  For example Penn State Alumni plates always begin with P/S.  Some plate prefixes are progressive, such as Passenger plates that started with the DAA series.  It should be noted that not all combinations in a progressive series are used and not all letters are used.  Certain combinations have been omitted for various reasons — may be deemed offensive, may be in use elsewhere, etc.  Certain letters are not regularly used such as I, O, Q, U.  This is not a hard and fast rule, but these letters generally do not appear in a progressive series.  They do however appear in certain code prefixes and suffixes.  For example, the letter I appears on the Commercial Implement of Husbandry plate.  The letter O appears on the Omnibus plate.  As a side note, it may be useful to visit the ‘Plate Highs’ web pages to get a better idea of where the various plate progressions currently stand.

Something also needs to be said about the use of dashes and separators.  PA does not use dashes as part of the actual registration number.  They do however use dash separators and small keystone separators on many plates.  Some even use the large keystone separator such as the Penn State official plate.  The dashes and separators are not a part of the registration number.

Certain prefixes may also be found in the suffix position, such as Municipal (MG) plates.  Some plates employ a combination of prefix and suffix such as Commercial Implement of Husbandry which has a CI prefix and an H suffix.  Special organizational / specialty plates normally have a logo, 2 stacked prefix letters then 5 numbers.  This is not always the case.  A few have 2 stacked prefix letters and only 4 numbers.  A growing number have 5 numbers and the stacked letters are in the suffix position.  The use of the slash ( / ) mark in the format column indicates stacking of letters or letter and numbers.  With the proliferation of special organization and specialty plates, it has been necessary to extend the plates codes beyond the first two letters on certain types.  For example Ducks Unlimited uses DU as its prefix.  Then Duquesne University and Drexel University came along all wanting to use DU, so it became necessary to share the prefixes by extending them to 3 characters.  Now Ducks uses DU0, Duquesne uses DU2, and Drexel has DU4.  The NASCAR series employs the use of a three-character alpha-numeric stacked prefixes followed by four numbers.  Motorcycle and Moped dealer tags employ a 4 digit number, then in very small letters across the bottom of the plate are the letters MCD or MPD.  These are prefixes used to designate the plate type even though they are at the bottom of the plate.  A number of plate types do not employ any prefix or suffix codes.  This is not to say that there is no particular format used, only that these plate don't use any alpha prefixes.

DCNR plates are also listed at the bottom of the table.