(1) How short can a license plate be? Standard issue are typically 6 or 7 characters, but I’ve seen personalized ones as short as 3 characters. Is there a limit, or if I wanted mine to be “R”, could I get it, just so long as nobody else had it?
(2) In California, a couple of symbols have been introduced that can act as a character: a heart and a star. Although these don’t seem to be part of the general license alpha-numeric rotation, they are used in personalized license plates and take up one of the seven character spaces available. Are there other symbols that act as characters on license plates, in CA or elsewhere?
The special characters in California do not count as part of the license plate’s number. I have no doubt that cops are none too fond of them for calling in numbers.
In a roughly related fact, New York has 8 letter vanity plates. They look like crap, since the letters are too narrow. But think of the additional works you could spell!
There’s a star, a heart, a hand, and a plus. I don’t believe there are any others.
From what I understand, the symbols are ignored when calling the license plate, as you can’t have a 123(star)ABC and a 123(hand)ABC plate. The 123-ABC will key onto the same vehicle.
I stroll past the police station on my morning walks. I’ll have to remember to ask tomorrow.
That’s just what I was trying to get across. The specials don’t count as any character at all. I was thinking about the cop trying to phone in a plate looking at the filler and trying to get the call in…
California license plates may have 2-7 characters, or 2-6 when ordering one of the special plates with intrusive artwork. The special symbols (heart, hand, star, plus) are available only on the “Kids License Plate,” which benefits the Child Health and Safety Fund.
Illinois plates can be a short as one letter. For example, the ex-Govenor Edgar was given the plate ‘E’.
In fact, there is a huge demand for these plates. Once someone has a rare plate, they hold on to it forever. They have come to represent a status symbol.
Recently, when the FBI was investigating the license-for-bribes scandal, they came across a side scandal where these rare plates were being trade for favors. One individual had a 3-digit plate for years, when it came time to renew it, the paperwork got “lost”. The plate turned up in someone else’s hands - someone who allegedly received it in return for a favor or contribution.
Interesting. In CA a personalized plate is issued once and the specific character sequence is never reissued again. If you lose one but have the other, they will reissue the second plate (we are supposed to have plates front and back). If you lose them both, the plate will never be reissued, to you or anyone else.
I am depressed, because I may have lost both my plates when I took them off my card and “saved” them when I moved out of CA for a few years! I can’t get them back unless I find at least one of them in storage.
You are correct KIRK. A thru Z and the numerals 0 thru 9. My cite is my brother, who deals in plates (buying and selling). Says he. they are not plates that are turned in when you don’t have a car to put them on. The DMV will hold them if thats the case, but they go right back to the original owner when asked. It’s a status deal. I got in on the N.Y. Birthplace of Baseball plates some years ago, and had my choice of 10 thru 99. 0 thru 9 were held for Baseball or Cooperstown hotshots, even if no one ever asked for them, the common man ain’t got a chance. Watch for my 2 digit BOB plates on a highway near you.
Had to go to my source and he went into his archives. The letter ‘O’ was issued in New York State, in November of 1995, to a William O’Shaunessy (SP?) an owner of New Rochelle radio station WVOX. I have the make of car also, but that’s probably changed since '95. In issuing the ‘O’, it negated the digit zero…makes sence as no way to differenciate.
The specials don’t count as any character at all. I was thinking about the cop trying to phone in a plate looking at the filler and trying to get the call in…