Vehicle Registration Plates Of Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania Vehicle Registration

The U.S. state of Pennsylvania first issued vehicle registration plates in 1906. Until 1979, the embossed date or sticker on the plate represented the date of issue, as opposed to the rest of North America, where it represented the date of expiration. Currently in Pennsylvania, only rear license plates are used for all types except press photographer and official use.

Passenger baseplates 1906 to present

In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that fixed the size for license plates for vehicles, except those for motorcycles, at six inches in height by twelve inches in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first Pennsylvania license plate that complied with these standards.

Only plates issued since 1999 are currently eligible for display.

Notes

1 Plus remakes of serials issued on previous bases.

History

In 1958, the state issued its first plate intentionally valid for multiple years, as the 1942 issue was revalidated with metal tabs due to wartime materiel restrictions. It was on this base plate that between 1960 and 1964 that special number plates for station wagons as well as passenger trucks such as the International Harvester Travelall, were issued classed as "Suburban," as was the practice in other states such as New York and Delaware.

1965 marked the issuance of a new base plate superseding the one first issued in 1958. There were no separate class of plate for station wagons on this base plate. This also was the final plate issued by the state that featured the outline of the state. These plates were valid until their replacement in March 1971 (it was then illegal to display the 1971 base until March 15, 1971, and illegal to display the 1965 base after March 31, 1971).

The commemoration of the bicentennial of the American Revolution was marked with the issuance of the 1971 base plate five years ahead of the actual event. The yellow on blue plates featured a representation of the Liberty Bell in place of a dash in the center of the plate with an embossed "BICENTENNIAL STATE â€˜76" on the bottom, which caused a bit of confusion as to the actual expiry of the plate.

Beginning in 1977, a new base plate was issued, superseding the previous one. It was blue on yellow with an outline of a keystone used as a dash and "KEYSTONE STATE" replacing the anniversary motto on the previous issue. During the issue of this base, PennDOT changed from a March 31 expiration for all passenger cars to a staggered registration as the 1979 stickers expired in March 1980, which resulted in as few as 6 months registration (September 1980) to as much as 18 months (September 1981), and the fee was prorated for the actual length of the registration period. Unlike previous plates, these used reflective Scotchlite sheeting. These plates, when used over time, saw the yellow paint fade away.

Mid-1983 marked the introduction of a controversial plate, as it used a tourism slogan with implied religious ties to the Society of Friends, more commonly known as the Quakers. The slogan on the yellow on blue plates was "You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania." Issuance of these plates was quickly dispatched with once Bob Casey, Sr. took office and replaced them with ones saying "KEYSTONE STATE" as well as the old "Pennsylvania" dies (this dating back from the 1977-1983 plates and originally from the 1965-1971 plates); however, the plates were not recalled. These plates used a "filled in" keystone as opposed to the "hollow" keystone on the 1977-1983 plates. These yellow on blue bases plate also were reflective, however it was the embossed areas that were. This was done using glass beads in the paint as opposed to the Scotchlite sheeting of the previous base plate. In 1991, a fourth digit was added after the plates reached ZZZ-999, resetting itself to AAA-0000 and saw the use of a s maller keystone to make room for the extra digit. The keystone was recycled from both the 1958-1964 and the 1965-1971 plates as a divider.

In 1999, a new base plate was issued replacing all plates issued from 1977 onwards, starting with replacing the 1977-83 yellow base, then progressing through vanity plates, then blue 1983-99 plates by ZIP Code, starting with towns whose ZIP Codes ending in an even number (such as 18974) then towns whose ZIP codes end in an odd number (such as 17003). The last plates that were to be phased out carried an 8-02 expiration, with the exception of the limited-issue "We the People" 1987 plate, which continues to be valid with registration renewal. However, a very small number of blue-base plates somehow escaped PennDOT replacement and continue to be used with renewal.

The plates were similar to those issued by other states in their use of a gradient fade background (in this case blue on top, white in the center, and yellow on the bottom). The state placed its governmental website in place of a slogan, making the state the first government of any kind to issue license plates with a web address on the plate. This baseplate also used reflective sheeting.

At the time, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation requiring that a statewide replate be undertaken every 10 years because the previous base license plates had been on the road as much as 22 years, and had deteriorated to the point of being unreadable. Due to the Great Recession at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, that law was repealed in 2008 just in time to avoid the 2009 replate in order to save money.

In 2004, the base plate was tweaked by eliminating the gradient fade, changing the typeface used on the state name and slogan and switching from the state's official website to the state tourism website. A slightly larger, more defined keystone was introduced at that time. A slight change to the dies of some of the letters in the plate number, such as "B", "P" and "R", was made which made the letters slightly more narrow and the serifs more pronounced. Although the website appearing on plates was changed, there are still a considerable number of valid plates on the road bearing a URL that, until early 2015, pointed to a page that no longer exists. It now redirects to the official PA government page rather than the tourism site, which is found on plates issued since 2008.

As of 2008, the old "Pennsylvania" type dies used from 1965-1999 (except for the 1983-1986 "Friend" years) is still used on specialty plates such as emergency vehicles.

All passenger types issued from 1999 onwards are valid for display in Pennsylvania.

Temporary plates

Unlike many states that issue paper or cardboard temporary license plates with a new registration until the permanent registration and plates comes in, Pennsylvania almost always issues the permanent plate right away, with a temporary tag in the rear window indicating the exact date the temporary tag expires, upon which it is removed or when the full-year registration sticker for the plate comes in, whichever comes first. (Some cars do get issued a paper temporary Pennsylvania plate, usually by those who live out-of-state buying a car in Pennsylvania who need the temporary tag until the vehicle title is transferred to the state they live in.) Until April 2000, new plates had a "T" sticker to denote a temporary tag on the plate until the full-year registration came in the mail with the regular registration sticker. Pennsylvania adopted the current system to combat criminals making counterfeit "T" stickers. For plates that already had the "T" stickers but were not issued yet to vehi cles at the time of the change, Pennsylvania gave car dealerships and notaries plain white stickers to cover up the "T" tags so that the plates could still be used.