All plates pictured here are from the author's personal collection. No
image may be reproduced without permission.
CURRENT BASES:
Standard Passenger
Passenger plates on the 2000 base started at 999 999, worked backwards to
100 000, then started upwards from 100 0000. As of May, 2003, New Hampshire
is now issuing in the 165 0000 series.
SIX DIGIT REGISTRATION NUMBER (OLDER)
SEVEN DIGIT REGISTRATION NUMBER (CURRENT). Note that the Old
Man of the Mountains has moved to the left slightly to accomodate a seven
digit number. If you can't see it, look at the "HA" in "HAMPSHIRE"
on both types of plates.
Low Number Passenger, 2000 base
Low number plates in New England are a bit of a status symbol. They
reportedly ward off the police, though I'm not so sure about that.
Any low number plate (< 100 000) can be requested for your vehicle by
writing to:
Commissioner of Motor Vehicles
State of New Hampshire, Department of Safety
Division of Motor Vehicles
10 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305
5-digit plates are likely easily available. 4-digit and lower plates
may take several months.
Don't try to get 0 (zero). I already did. It's reserved for
the Governor.
Postmasters can also request a plate bearing the zip code of their
Post Office (03060 for Nashua as an example). Zip codes for New Hampshire
start with 03. Though I once saw an 018xx -- which would be a Massachusetts
Post Office. Hm. Guess he's one of those across-the-border commuters,
like I was. In that case, it would also be possible to have 05xxx (Vermont),
01xxx (Northern Massachusetts), and 04xxx (Maine).
Our friend the Old Man has moved all the way over to the right. This
style is also used for vanity plates up to six characters long. He moves
even further over for seven character vanity plates.
Passenger Temporary
Car dealers in New Hampshire are not allowed to issue plates, so they issue
temporaries. For real plates, you must go to the city or town hall where
you live.
New Hampshire issues three types of cardboard temporary plates for cars
and three for motorcycles. Red number plates are for new cars / motorcycles
and are valid for 20 days. Black number plates are for used cars / motorcycles
and are also valid for 20 days. The third type says "MOTOR VEHICLE
PLATES" in black, with two boxes for expiration date and plate number. These
are for people waiting for vanity plates, and are valid for 60 days. They
have the same "number" as the vanity plate that was ordered.
The temporary plate below was issued to me when I bought my new car.
Handicapped plates still use the 1992 base.
Apportioned Tractor-Trailer
The Apportioned program allows road taxes to be distributed among states
and provinces. Trucks register in the state where their company is based,
then pay road tax to other states and provinces based on the percentage of
time spent in each state / province. In the US, such plates are labelled
"APPORTIONED." In Canada, they are labeled "PRP" which stands for Provincial
Registration Program. The Apportioned / PRP programs
started in the mid 1970s. Prior to this, a truck would have to mount
plates for each state or province they traveled through! In some cases
this was 30 or more plates!
Issuance progression was AP0001 through AP9999, then 1000AP forward.
Incidentally, this is the only current type of New Hampshire plate I can
think of that does not sport the state's "Live Free or Die" slogan.
Trailer
Trailer plates still use the 1992 base. Issuance progression started
from 1000TA, went through 9999TZ, then TA0001 and so on. Current issues
are in the TUxxxx series.
National Guard plates still use the 1992 base.
Motorcycle
Motorcycle plates still use the 1992 base. Issuance progression started
from A0001, went to Z9999, then 1000A and so on.
NH State House and Senate
Now the lettering and serial number is green, not red. I used
to think the "2" was a district number until I saw both "3" and "4" plates
parked in Nashua driveways. (Editorial Commentary: What's a
boat doing in the state seal? We only have about two miles of coastline.)
(Useless Trivia: N.H. Senators and Representatives are
paid an annual salary of $100. That's right. One Hundred
Dollars. It's a "don't quit your day job" type of job.)
CURRENT BASES WANT LIST:
Veteran, 2002 "Flag" base. Issuance progression V1 forward. Currently
issuing in the V11000 series. White plate, waving American flag on the
left, serial number in blue. Top of plate says VETERAN in the first
row, stars in the second row, LIVE FREE OR DIE third row, all in blue. Bottom
of plate says NEW HAMPSHIRE in blue.
University of New Hampshire Official Vehicle, 1992 base. Issuance
progression U1 through U9999.
University of New Hampshire Optional 1993 issue. Commemorative
plate celebrating the 100th anniversity of UNH. Blue on white. Top
of plate reads UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. Four digit embossed serial
number separated by a likeness of the UNH clock tower within a star, captioned
1893-1993. Bottom, first row reads CENTENNIAL, second row reads FROM
THE PLOW TO THE STARS. This replaced one's front plate optionally during
1993 and 1994.
Government / Police Vehicle, 1992 base. G00000 serial, all
stickered to March 2005. (black on magenta year sticker, if anyone's wondering)
Ambulance, 1992 base. AMB-000 serial.
Dealer, 2003 "Red, White, and Blue Old Man" base. Top of plate:
LIVE FREE OR DIE in red letters. Left side of the plate has the Old
Man of the Mountains in green. Serial number is embossed in green: stacked
prefix DLR, then a one, two, three, or four-digit number, followed by a letter.
Bottom, first row, DEALER in white letters on a blue background, second
row NEW HAMPSHIRE in white letters on a red background
Purple Heart, 1992 base. Stacked "PURPLE HEART" in green followed
by a replica of the Purple Heart to left of serial number, see National Guard
plates above for reference
Prisoner Of War, 1992 base. Stacked POW on left of plate, followed
by three rows of barbed wire in green to the left of serial number.
Sample plate, 2000 base. Reads "VISIT"
Sample Moose plate. Reads "MOOSE."
Actual Moose plate. Stacked CH prefix (Conservation
and Heritage). Started c/h 1C through c/h 9999C, then c/h 100C1
through c/h 999C9, then c/h 10C00 through c/h 99C99, then c/h 1C000 forward.
Current issues are in the c/h 2C000 series.
Construction Equipment, 2000 base. Stacked CE prefix, or CONSTRUCTION
EQUIP. stacked flat. I guess they couldn't decide.
New Hampshire Department of Transportation Official Vehicle, 1992 base.
Serial H1 through H9999.
1 to 6 character vanity, 2000 base. Old Man of the Mountains
to the right.
7 character vanity, 2002 base. Old Man of the Mountains even
further to the right. (7 character vanities were not allowed
until June 1, 2002. Most likely this was because the 7th character would
obscure the Old Man.)
Nashua Commemorative. See http://www.licenseplates.cc/story.php?id=70
. Nashua residents can optionally replace their front plate with this
plate, commemorating the city's 150th anniversary, during 2003 and 2004. Only
2003 of these plates will be made, numbered 1 to 2003. (This is of
interest to me as I lived in Nashua.)
EARLIER BASES:
Bedford Commemorative
This plate was issued to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the town
of Bedford, NH (just south of Manchester). Bedford residents could optionally
use this plate to replace their front plate during 2000 and 2001. They
were not numbered, like the Nashua plates.
Standard Passenger
1992 BASE
Series went from AAA-001 forward. Switched to the 2000 base (and went
all-numeric) somewhere around the DBX series. (Useless NH Plate Trivia:
You can see this base on cars in the movie "Jumanji," which was filmed in
Keene, NH. For some reason, though, these cars aren't inspected.)
1987 BASE
The only difference between the 1987 and 1992 bases was that in 1992,
the state motto went to all caps. 1987 bases stayed valid through 2000
because of this similarity. Here is a low number plate (explained above)
on the 1987 base.
1982 BASE
This plate is very interesting to me. Number one, it's made with Massachusetts
dies. I don't know all the details, but in the early 1980s, NH had some
problem making plates, and asked neighboring Massachusetts to help out --
so you see a lot of 1982 bases with Mass-style lettering. Also, this
is an all-numeric plate, which wasn't used at the time except for low numbers
( < 100000). However, it's clearly not < 100000! Maybe a
vanity? If anyone can solve this mystery, I'd be grateful.
1973 BASE
I like the die style used on 1957-1973 New Hampshire plates. It's
just nifty.
1973 was the first year that the controversial "LIVE FREE OR DIE" slogan
appeared on New Hampshire plates, replacing "SCENIC." 1973 was also
the first year that stickers (1974) were used to revalidate NH plates, rather
than having new plates issued every year. Prior to 1973, plates alternated
each year from white lettering on a green background to green lettering on
a white background, for easy distinction by law enforcement. The first
letter of the 1949 through 1973 base plates corresponded to the county, as
in the following list. From 1949 to 1953, they were a stacked prefix,
in 1954 the letters became smaller and horizontal. The legend "SCENIC"
was added in 1957, the plate size was standardized to US standards, and the
county prefix became larger again. In the following list, I've put towns
and cities located in each county in parenthesis for reference:
B BELKNAP (Laconia)
C CARRROLL (Conway, North Conway)
E, Z CHESHIRE (Keene)
O COOS (Pittsburg, Lancaster, Berlin)
G GRAFTON (Plymouth, Franconia, Franconia Notch, Littleton)
H,I,J,L HILLSBOROUGH (Nashua, Manchester)
M,N MERRIMACK (Concord)
R,K,P ROCKINGHAM (Pelham, Salem)
F,D STRAFFORD (Portsmouth, Dover, Durham, Rochester)
S SULLIVAN (Claremont)
1970 BASE
1963 BASE
1963 was the only year that "PHOTOSCENIC" appeared on NH plates.
It replaced "SCENIC," and in 1964, the powers that be decided to return
to "SCENIC." My 1963 plates (I also have a '63 farm tractor plate,
shown below), for some reason, have four extra holes. I don't know
why.
A lot of these older plates are too big to fit on my scanner bed, but I'll
try.
1929 BASE
I got this one on eBay for $2.00! The registration number is 19,398.
Sorry for chopping the ends off, but it's big!
1926 BASE
I really like the Old Man on 1926 plates. He's embossed!
They should have kept him. The registration number is 26,376.
1918 BASE
One of two porcelain plates I own. The other is a 1918 Massachusetts
plate. I guess 1918 is a cheap year.
TRAILER PLATES
1973 BASE
1948 BASE
This plate is an odd size, I think. It's also quite heavy.
FARM TRACTOR -- 1963 BASE
As I mentioned above, an extra four holes, in the same place as on my
1963 passenger plate.
DEALER -- 1971 BASE
NON-RESIDENT -- 1924 BASE
Prior to 1968, New Hampshire required all summer residents (June through
September) whose cars were registered in other states to also have a New Hampshire
plate. These plates were either trapezoid or oval shaped (until 1957),
and used much higher numbers than standard (resident) plates to avoid confusion.
In 1957 the shape was standardized (rectangular, just like resident
plates) and the "NON RES" legend was added to the top.
