# My friend made a weird observation about license plates in movies
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 3, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122 "2003-04-03T03:16:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/1 "2003-04-03T03:16:54Z")
My friend claims that he has observed the license plate initials “PCE” show up in movies unusually often; Can anyone confirm or deny this? Is he just crazy, or, indeed, are these initials used for a purpose??
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### Author:  [@Payne\_N.Diaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payne_N.Diaz)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/2 "2003-04-03T04:00:09Z")
Maybe it’s like the 555 prefix in movie/TV phone numbers–just a dummy to avoid accidentally using a real number. And no, I haven’t noticed this, since I hardly ever go to movies.
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### Author:  [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/3 "2003-04-03T06:33:15Z")
Used to be that in NY state rental car license plates had a Z in them. (Or was it Q or X? No matter.) I don’t think that rule applies anymore here in NYS, but the point is that some states (California?) may in fact number-code their plates. The ones that your pal sees may be coded as rentals or special movie industry prop cars.
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### Author:  [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/4 "2003-04-03T13:35:12Z")
Alfred Hitchcock used his own license plate number in his movies. Or at least in one movie. It’s been a while since I read the book.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/5 "2003-04-03T14:16:34Z")
Might be you’re seeing movies shot with the same set of cars in the background. Is it the same type of car he’s seeing PCE on?
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/6 "2003-04-03T14:28:16Z")
Perhaps one of the larger companys that supplies cars for movies is located in a county that has PCE as one of the licence plate prefixes.
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### Author:  [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/7 "2003-04-03T14:47:15Z")
I’ve never noticed the PCE thing on license plates in movies but then again, I wasn’t looking for it. When my car was used when I was working as an extra on a film they did slap a magnetized false license plate over my real one before allowing my car to be in any shots. Perhaps the PCE thing is for those kinds of plates.
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### Author:  [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/8 "2003-04-03T15:05:30Z")
Not exactly related, but in _Ghost Dog_ I thought it was funny that the painstakingly used fake license plates with no state names (the slogan on one was “The Industrial State”) on cars that very clearly had New York registration and inspection stickers in the window.
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### Author:  [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/9 "2003-04-03T15:51:00Z")
I’ve noticed on _24_ that the license plates are just slightly off the California standard. The rule for cars is #LLL###. _24_ seems to put either a zero or the capital letter o (you can’t tell the difference, obviously!) in the 3rd letter spot. The letter o is never used in reality, to prevent it from being confused with a zero, which are allowed. Actually #LL#### is the standard for trailers…though I can’t say if I’ve ever seen the number zero in the 4th spot on a plate.
I seem to recall _Robbery Homicide Division_ using a similar trick, though my memory of that dearly departed series has faded.
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### Author:  [@Cheban](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheban)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/10 "2014-10-04T07:00:23Z")
> [@Trigonal\_Planar](#):
>
> My friend claims that he has observed the license plate initials “PCE” show up in movies unusually often; Can anyone confirm or deny this? Is he just crazy, or, indeed, are these initials used for a purpose??
I write from Spain and your friend is ok. I saw a lot of license plates in american movies with PCE and never I discovered the reason. I saw just a plate in the serie “Terries”.
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### Author:  [@Cheban](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheban)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/11 "2014-10-04T07:22:41Z")
“The California DMV allows productions to use certain sequences that have not been issued to the public,” he says. “The PCE is used as a passenger license plate and can end between 000-499. There is also a passenger PCI series and other sequences used for commercial vehicles.”
“California wouldn’t issue plates with the PCE suffix until later in the 1970s, but it appears that the California DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) reserved PCE-suffix blue plates for use by Hollywood when the blue plates came out.”
Information obtained from Internet
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/12 "2014-10-04T12:24:36Z")
After 11 years, I don’t think he cares anymore. Besides, information “obtained from Internet” is always suspect.
The OP’s last activity was in 2005.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/13 "2014-10-04T13:45:09Z")
zombie or no
the PCE series of of plates would stand for Passenger Car Exhibit reserved for movie and tv prop cars.
information from the Internet.
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/14 "2014-10-04T14:08:59Z")
People watch movies, but so do cars. That’s why drive-in theatres were so popular in the car culture of the 50s.
Just as people have their preferred movie stars, so do cars. That’s why you frequently see “PCE” on the big screen. She’s the Marilyn Monroe of movie car stars.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/15 "2014-10-04T15:01:32Z")
Along the same lines, ever notice how often clocks, etc read 4:20 as an inside joke?
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/16 "2014-10-04T16:21:02Z")
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Along the same lines, ever notice how often clocks, etc read 4:20 as an inside joke?
I have one clock in my house permanently set at 4:20. Few people notice it.
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/17 "2014-10-04T17:59:31Z")
For a lot of things Movies try to get things that will work if they have to reverse the image. But for license plates you’d have to block the state name and any other writing, then try to get a palindrome consisting of 0 8 A I O U T X M H W and V, so they don’t usually bother.
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### Author:  [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/18 "2014-10-04T18:26:21Z")
> [@johnpost](#):
>
> zombie or no
>
> the PCE series of of plates would stand for Passenger Car Exhibit reserved for movie and tv prop cars.
>
> information from the Internet.
I’m not sure I agree with you a hundred percent on your police work, there, **johnpost** …
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### Author:  [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/19 "2014-10-04T19:08:40Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> After 11 years, I don’t think he cares anymore. Besides, information “obtained from Internet” is always suspect.
>
> The OP’s last activity was in 2005.
Ten seconds googling reveals the [source](http://www.tvguide.com/news/just-license-plate-1027190.aspx). Seems legit.
So it looks like **Cheban** found the answer. The prefix is unassigned by the CA DMV, so movie studios located there use it for prop-plates.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-made-a-weird-observation-about-license-plates-in-movies/166122/20 "2014-10-04T19:16:32Z")
You’re going to trust the Government??!!?? In California??!!?? Run by Liberal Hollywood Types??!!??
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