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Vehicle registration plates of the United States for 1916

In 1916 Guam and Nevada joined the list of states and territories providing license plates to vehicle owners, and no new states entered the prestate era. There were now 45 states and 4 territories that were issuing license plates and 1 other state requiring owners to provide their own license plates.^[1][2][3][4]

Passenger baseplates[edit]

In the table below, a light green background indicates that the owner of the vehicle was required to provide their own license plates. These plates are called "prestate" by most collectors. In the prestate era many states only provided the license plate number on a small disc or on paper, and the owner was required to have their license plate(s) made. These early license plates were created from kits that could be purchased at a hardware store, may have been available from automobile clubs or associations, they were forged by blacksmiths or other tradesmen, or the owner may have made their own plate with whatever materials they had on hand. Prestate plates were made from a variety of materials, but most often were made of leather, steel, or wood.

Image	State	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	Alabama
	Alaska					No prestate plates. State issued plates begin in 1921.
	American Samoa					No prestate plates. Territory issued plates begin in 1924.
	Arizona
	Arkansas
	California
	Canal Zone
	Colorado
	Connecticut
	Delaware
	District of Columbia
	Florida					State issued plates begin in 1918.
	Georgia
	Guam					First year for territory issued plates.
	Hawai'i					No prestate plates. Territory issued plates begin in 1922.
	Idaho
	Illinois
	Indiana
	Iowa	Embossed beige serial on dark olive green plate; "IA" and dash at right	none	123456	1 to approximately 341000	Used until 1918 due to metal conservation for World War I.
	Kansas
	Kentucky
	Louisiana
	Maine
	Maryland
	Massachusetts
	Michigan
	Minnesota
	Mississippi
	Missouri
	Montana
	Nebraska
	Nevada					First year for state issued plates.
	New Hampshire
	New Jersey
	New Mexico
	New York
	North Carolina
	North Dakota
	Northern Mariana Islands					No prestate plates. Territory issued plates begin in 1944.
	Ohio
	Oklahoma
	Oregon
	Pennsylvania
	Puerto Rico
	Rhode Island
	South Carolina					No prestate plates. State issued plates begin in 1917.
	South Dakota
	Tennessee
	Texas					No prestate plates. State issued plates begin in 1917.
	U.S. Virgin Islands					No prestate plates. Territory issued plates begin in 1917.
	Utah
	Vermont
	Virginia
	Washington
	West Virginia
	Wisconsin	Embossed red serial on white plate; vertical "WIS." over "'16." at right	none	123456	1 to approximately 115000	First base to use six digits.
	Wyoming

See also[edit]

Cars

• Antique vehicle registration
• Electronic license plate
• Motor vehicle registration
• Vehicle license

References[edit]

External links[edit]