NEW PLATES: PennDOT has been more proactive about publishing bulletins announcing new special organization plate types. Here are two recent bulletins: Bulletin 24-11 and Bulletin 24-12, both dated May 2024. These two bulletins collectively announce 16 new plate types but 13 have already been covered by this website. The three remaining are Down Syndrome Association of Pittsburgh, Elle’s Angels Foundation, and Angel Flight East. As of this weekly update, none of these three types have active plates. Thanks to John McDevitt for the heads-up on both bulletins!

Bruce Bufalini shares this new high for the Vietnam War Veteran plate type. This plate type started in 1999 on the white base and transitioned to the "Family of Plates" style in 2014. For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

Next up, we have a 4-digit 1908 Passenger plate from Jeff Lesher that's printed on the size that a 5-digit number normally would be printed on. It's thought that these were mostly for replacement plates. These plates are very uncommon to find but not impossible. The 5-digit plate, for comparison, comes from Don Bucchi.

Here's another new high, this time from John Sutliff, for the Preserve Our Heritage type. This is the only plate that's still being issued with a full graphic background, and it's expected that this type will transition to the "Family of Plates" style after R/R 9Z99 is reached.

Finally we have a low-number vanity plate, #40. Vanity plates can be found on the Passenger page under their respective years. Thanks to Joshua Lutz for the picture!

LEGISLATION UPDATE: Senate Bill 916 proposes the creation of a Sportsman license plate. If this plate comes to fruition, it will likely fall under the Special Fund category, which means a portion of each purchase is put towards a special state trust fund for the benefit of whatever the plate type is supporting. You can see any plate-related legislation news at the Legislation page, linked here. Click here to read more about Senate Bill 916.

John McDevitt reports that two new plates are on the way: Fairfield Hose Company and LVHN MedEvac. Stay tuned for more infomation on these plates as they begin to be spotted in the wild.

Brendan Sherry shares this picture of a West Chester University plate, the first image on this website of this type with the map outline graphic in place of the sticker well. This type came out in 2005, starting at W/C 20001, which means that about 26 plates are issued per year.

Here's (left, from Devan Ciemiewicz) what appears to be a test or prototype plate for the various plates that had a white backgound. What is interesting is that all of the white-background plate types that made it to production had "PENNSYLVANIA" on the bottom, not the top, which this test/prototype shows. The picture on the right (from Tom Perri) is one such plate type that used a white background.

Last but not least, we have a new high for the National Constitution Center plate type, compliments of John Clark. This type came out 17 years ago, and number 17 is the current high so you can see how rare these are! For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

Brayden Harnish sends in this fantastic picture of the "new" Conserve Wild Resources plate. The "new" is in quotes because this type goes back to 1993 with the Saw Whet Owl, then transitioned to the Otter in 1999, and now to the Eastern Hellbender in 2023. For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

Here's what appears to be a sample 1943 tab. These tabs were used in place of a new annual plate in 1943 in order to conserve steel for the war effort. These tabs were issued in late 1942 to be affixed to the 1942 annual plate and used for the duration of 1943. Annual plates resumed in 1944. See the Passenger page for more info, and thanks to Mike Alfonse for the picture!

Ian Emmett shares this picture of a Pennsylvania Auctioneers Association plate. This is the first image of this type with the map outline graphic. This type came out in 2013, which means that a little over 2 plates are issued per year.

Here's a rare one: Hearing Impaired. This plate type is very seldom spotted, but wait, there's more... it's also a new high!

Bruce Bufalini sends in this picture of an Expeditionary Forces Veteran plate which appears to be a number from a previous format on the current format. These remakes are being spotted more and more and will make it tough to track changeover points from format to format. Click the type link to see all formats for this type!

The Plate of the Week award this week goes to Bill Southwick for a "first-of" shot of the new Air Medal plate. This was one of four plates authorized by Acts 112 and 113 of 2023: Pollinator Habitat, Afghanistan & Iraq Veteran, Blue Star Family, and Air Medal. This is the first such plate spotted since the Acts were signed into law in March 2023. Thanks Bill!

Here's a new high for the In God We Trust plate type from Jonathan Ortmann. As you can see, this plate has a sticker well, which implies that many of these plates were made since we don't see the map outline yet. For all current highs, be sure to check out the Highs page!

Ross Clinchy shares this picture of what appears to be a low-number Press Photographer plate, but what is actually a personalized plate of the same type. It is very rare to spot a personalized PP plate so we are grateful to Ross for sharing this!

Speaking of Press Photographer plates, the Pew Charitable Trusts account on Instagram shared this awesome picture of a PP plate in the late 1970s. The left photo will open full-size for your viewing pleasure. The photo originally comes from the Library of Congress.

Chris Wentzel sends in this picture of a Ringing Hill Fire Company plate without a sticker well. Whenever a plate has neither a sticker well nor a map outline, that means it was made in the short span of time after the requirement for registration stickers was dropped and PennDOT decided to use a map outline of the state in place of the now-unused sticker well. This is the first spot of such a plate.