Maryland License Plates

Maryland License Plates

Maryland uses neither I, O, Q, nor U on any plate, other than organizationals, personalized, and Amateur Radio. The only non-passenger type to have used one of these letters was Charter Bus (I00-001) which was merged into Class P in 1988. All are long gone.

A new standard issue plate debuted June 14, 2010. Originally planned to be a general replacement that would replace all plates except Bay and Ag between 07/10 and 06/12, it will now just be issued for new registrations for Class A, E, and M plates. All current plates will remain valid.

Motorcycle, Handicapped, and Handicapped Motorcycle have been added to the list of classes to receive War of 1812 plates starting June 14. ALL existing plates will remain valid indefinitely. The War of 1812 plate will cease issue in June 2015. The "crest" plates will return then as the standard issue.

Stickers
black on white

Here are the very last plates from the Maryland 1986 series! Thanks to Joseph for snapping the pics.

Type	Plate	Notes	Reporter
Pass	4GD-J77	Maryland used New Jersey dies for a short period on some plates. Joseph reports that the reason for the temporary change to NJ dies was that plate production in the Maryland prison was shut down due to violence. So far, only Pass and Multi-Purpose plates have been reported with NJ dies. 8CM X22 is the high with MD dies. 3CN Z46 is the high with NJ dies. 1CP A90 is the low for MD dies after NJ dies. Jeff Ellis figures NJ dies ran between 1CN A01 and 9CN Z99. This is the new format for Maryland passenger plates. The previous series ended at MZZ 999. That series started at NAA 001 in February 1986 and progressed through ZZZ 999, then upwards from AAA 001 through MZZ 999. 0 (zero) is never issued as the first character in the new format. MZZ 999 was issued and spotted by Joseph. 9AK Z95 is the highest pass reported without "www.maryland.gov" at the bottom. 1AL A01 is the lowest pass plate reported with the new "www.maryland.gov" at the bottom. Joseph reports that some 2008 stickers are the wrong color. Hologram threads are now appearing, having started at 1FC A01.	Jeff Ellis 7/17/12
War of 1812	6 B D 1003	The M/D series appeared first, followed by the A/A series. 0 (zero) is never used in the first position. The lowest plate issued in this series was 1M/D0000. Switch to Avery Sheeting confirmed low 5 A/G 9000.	Dave Edmondson 6/16/13
Non-passenger Plates
Ambulance/Funeral	073-08C	C is constant. 065 00C appears to be the low with website.	Jeff Ellis 7/21/12
Baltimore City Police	B C 2756	Baltimore City (B/C) and Anne Arundel (A/A), Baltimore (B/A), Howard (H/C), Montgomery (M/C) and Prince George's (P/G) counties all have independent police departments that are assigned their own plate series. A/A 1590 - Anne Arundel County Police B/A 1717 - Baltimore County Police H/C 1103 - Howard County Police P/G 3812 - Prince George's County M/C 0936 - Montgomery County Police Tom Castelli informs us that other counties not listed here have a county sheriff's office that performs the same functions as an independent county police department. These departments use similar plates in the S/A 1234 series with "[county name] Co." screened below the serial. Cities and other municipalities that have independent police departments (e.g. Laurel, Westminster) use similar plates in the M/G 1234 series with the name of the municipality screened below the serial, although the L/G series is used by some towns. Municipal series: M/G 2376 - Westminster Sheriff series: S/A 1800 series, S/A 3900 series (Baltimore City) S/A 2400 series (Baltimore County) S/A 5913 (Carroll County)	Matt De Rouville 1/05/13
Bus	105-31P	The "P" is a constant. Now with website, starting at 085 01P. 084 65P is the high without the website. Apportioned Bus - 021 P17 Jeff Ellis 2012-07-17 Charter Bus (now obsolete) - I00 045	Matt De Rouville 5/25/13
Dealer	2A19034	Original numbering format: 1A00001	Jeff Ellis 4/03/13
Disabled Veteran	DV3002	Wheelchair embossed to the left. "Disabled Veteran" screened bottom.	Jeff Ellis 6/08/08
Dump Truck	E48114D	E and D are constants. High w/o website: E36978D. Low with website: E37001D Apportioned Dump Truck - 204E/D99 Stacked E/D is screened. Now with VST threads.	Jeff Ellis 11/19/12
Farm Area	283 06K	Vehicles operating on farm and adjacent roads only. Class K includes vehicles used only on inhabited islands effective 10/2006. Now with website. High without website - 124 27K. Low with website - 129 94K. Probably changed at 125 00K, but not confirmed.	Tom Castelli 5/11/13
Farm Truck	357 26 F T	"Farm" screened at bottom on both Farm Truck and Farm Truck Tractor. The stacked F/T and T/R are screened. Farm Truck Tractor high - 086 91T/R Stickers go on the FRONT plate when these are issued in pairs, but Semi Tractor, Apportioned Semi Tractor, and Farm Semi Tractor were all changed to singles in 2003 or 2004.	Jeff Ellis 3/22/12
Handicapped	34124 H T	68892 H/V highest plain reported. 69000 H/V is the current low with "www.maryland.gov" at bottom. Progression: 00001H/C, then 00001H/D, then 00001H/V, now 00016H/T. Wheelchair and stacked letters screened through 35999H/D, embossed thereafter. War of 1812 base low - 09343H/T	Jeff Ellis 5/27/13
Handicapped Motorcycle	2099 D M	D/M is silkscreened -- constant Tom Castelli reports 2D436 on 2009-09-13 as a possible new series on the 4x7" plate. Wheelchair symbol embossed to right of serial. D/M 0437 reported by Tom Castelli, but we are unsure of the progression. Wheelchair symbol screened to left of stacked D/M prefix. Serial embossed. National standard 4"x 7" size.	Jeff Ellis 4/29/06
Historic	Z02 386	Original series was 000 00L, followed by L00 000, then 000 0L0, and then 000 00Z. After 999 99Z, the Z changed to the first position.	Matt De Rouville 5/02/13
Historic Motorcycle	29175 L D	Now in 4x7", same as regular Motorcycle. Now on Avery sheeting. High for 4.5"x8" - 17135 L/D Low for 4x7" - 18414 L/D	Jeff Ellis 7/21/12
Limousine	04209LM	Now with website. High without website 03420LM. Limousines used to use Class B plates, then spun off to separate class in 1997.	Jeff Ellis 9/08/12
Local Government	L G 96656	L/G 74892 high without website; L/G 75011 low with website Avery sheeting in use beginning at L/G94500.	Jeff Ellis 6/08/13
Low Speed Vehicle	001R47	New class; 000R09 is the lowest reported. Two full-size plates are issued, with a 6-character format WITHOUT the state crest. "Low Speed Vehicle" screened bottom. Plate was spotted on a 4-wheel, electric taxi in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Jeff Ellis spoted 000R01, which is the lowest possible number in this type.	Jeff Ellis 9/03/12
Motorcycle	09896Y	Now on Avery sheeting, and now on War of 1812 base. New format: first 00000D, then 0000D0, then 000D00, then 000M00, then 0D0000, now D00000. The expected 00D000 would have conflicted with the truck series. Motorcycle plates have "www.maryland.gov" in very small print at the bottom as of 741M83. High without web site is 737M49. Split was probably at 740M00. In Fall 2008, Maryland changed Motorcycle plates from the traditional 4 1/2x8" size to the 4x7" size that is becoming the standard for most of the US. The high for the traditional size is 7D0003. The low for the new size is 8D8444. High for the new size - D35831 War of 1812 Low - D39381	Jeff Ellis 5/04/13
Motorcycle - Dealer	1B3194	1B is constant Old non-standard size (4.5" x 8") Newer issues appear to be standard size. The change probably took place at 1B3000 or 1B3100.	Tom Castelli 7/18/11
Multi-Purpose	61910M3	The new high is back to MD dies. See the note under Passenger about NJ dies. 894M522 high with MD dies. 895M023 low with NJ dies. 909M500 high with NJ dies. 910M000 low with MD dies. It appears that the block of plates from 895Mnnn to 909Mnnn had NJ dies. 000000M - 999999M used originally, then M000000 to M999999, then 000M001 to 999M999, now 00001M0 to current. Newest issues have "www.maryland.gov" at the bottom, making it the first slogan on Maryland plates since 1947. The website began at 480M000. Jason H. reports a low of 000M002 on this type. Hologram threads begin 45000M0.	Jeff Ellis 4/01/11
Natural Resources Police	4 7 9	Yellow on black, flat. Tom Castelli reports a red on black, flat. Chris Morris reports that numbers for this type are randomly assigned, not issued in sequential order.	Christopher F. 12/25/08
Recycler	2R08367	2R is constant	Jeff Ellis 7/17/07
School Bus	189 20H	"School Vehicle" caption on bottom	Jeff Ellis 3/22/13
School Charter	H78 03C	"School Charter" caption on bottom	Jeff Ellis 3/12/13
Semi-Tractor	341 21F	"F" suffix is a constant. Apparently now issued as singles. Issued as pairs as late as 2003 or 2004, plate number 290-26F, with 02 hologram. Now featuring the website. High without website is 301-49F. Break likely at 302-00F. Low with website is 302 72F. Apportioned Semi-Tractor high is 713 F12.	Jeff Ellis 2/16/13
Special Mobile Equipment	4E42476	4E is constant	Matt De Rouville 2/18/13
State Government	S G 28915	High without website is S/G 22722. Low with website is S/G 22806. The 24000 series uses an odd 2 die. A separate series of State Gov't plates exists for State Highway Administration vehicles, beginning at S/G 80000. High for that series is S/G 87364. No website seen yet in this series. There is a THIRD series of State Government plates for State Highway Administration PASSENGER CARS. Low is S/G 29607, and NEW High is S/G 29909. No website yet in this series. '2' digit is back to a normal die. High with the odd '2' die is S/G 24366. From Jeff Ellis: Many Maryland Transit Authority buses are sporting newly-remade State Gov't plates, retaining the old numbers, but now sporting the website at the bottom and Avery Sheeting.	Jeff Ellis 6/08/13
State Government - Motorcycle	S G 401	From Jeff Ellis: Only known m/c plate with state shield. Not sure if equivalent Local Gov't m/c plate exists; have never seen one.	Jeff Ellis 5/01/06
Street Rod	355-17N	Modified Historic Vehicles	Jeff Ellis 8/05/12
Street Rod Motorcycle	01451 N D	Modified Historic motorcycles	Rick Kretschmer 10/18/08
Taxi	551-26B	Still on crest base with website. Website started at 375 00B High without is 374-99B. Christopher F. reports seeing a taxi with an Agriculture plate. Taxi plates also appear on the Chesapeake plate in the reverse format. Taxis that use Maryland's Agriculture license plates share the same serial format as regular passenger cars, trucks, & multipurpose vehicles.	Jeff Ellis 4/19/13
Temporary (60 Day)	T980675	Computer generated Black on White, starting Oct. 2010. These are point of sale issues that are printed by the dealer and wrapped in a protective plastic sleeve. Same fonts and sizes used as Virginia's print on demand temp for state name and serial. Includes year, make, model, color, and VIN of vehicle. Expiration date printed in white on black. Started at T000001. This type is also used for Motorcycle, but printed smaller. The numbers appear to be shared between Pass. and Motorcycle. Earlier series were Blue on White cardboard. Z suffix rolled over to A, B, C, D, E, G, H, P. N began to appear after P. F and O were skipped. Motorcycle Temporary - 72588K (Blue on white like Pass, but MC size)	Paul Freeze 2/14/13
Tow Truck	10282TT	TT0-000, then 000-0TT, now 00000TT. High without website - 00694TT Low with website - 00712TT TT is constant. The website has now been replaced with "Tow Truck" High with website - 06763TT Low with "Tow Truck" - 06918TT Tow truck plates are now their own class: Class T. Until 2001 or so they were considered a type of truck plate ("E"). Apportioned Tow Truck high - 031T/E83 (Stacked T/E is screened.)	Jeff Ellis 5/11/13
Trailer	041112X	Trailer plates now have the website. Highest Trailer without website - 853890G Lowest Trailer with website - 854079G The TL suffix appears to be the next after 999999G. 99999TL has been reached, and the new format for trailer plates is 000000X.	Jeff Ellis 11/17/12
Trailer Dealer	1C05721	Very rare type	Jeff Ellis 8/18/08
Transporter	5T13452	One of seven classes not assigned to individual vehicles. Others are: 1A (Dealer), 1B (M/C Dealer), 1C (Trailer Dealer), 2R (Recycler), 3F (Finance[Repossession]), 4E (Special Equipment)	Tom Castelli 12/19/12
Truck	99X 333	Originally 300 001 to 299 999, then 00A 001 to current. "www.maryland.gov" is on the current high. The website began at 23R 000. Now with "barbed wire" hologram threads beginning at 12X 000. Truck low: 10A 813 Apportioned Truck high - 329 E42	Jordan Irazabal 5/12/13
Van Pool	036 26J	www.maryland.gov, probably starting at 035 00J	Christopher Jackson 1/04/13
Specialty Plates
Agri Farm Truck	F T 02128	FT is stacked and screened.	Jeff Ellis 4/08/08
Agri Trailer	A904188	Agriculture trailer series begins at A900000.	Jeff Ellis 7/31/10
Agricultural	A256118	Introduced July 2001. The Agricultural license plate ("Ag Tag") is an optional issue celebrating Maryland's agricultural heritage, and bearing the slogan "Our Farms, Our Future," and featuring a farm scene on a bright red and yellow background. It is available for passenger vehicles / light trucks / multipurpose vehicles / taxis in an A000000 format. Other formats issued on the same base are Trailer (A900000), Farm Truck (F/T00000), and Handicapped (00000A/E). Tom Castelli reports A000052 as a low. Hologram threads started at A221000. All 3M through A246xxx. A247xxx all Avery. A248xxx and A249xxx mixed Avery and 3M. A250xxx + all Avery. Month of an Avery SecureMark code can be determined by subtracting the number of circles arrayed in a diamond pattern around the year from twelve. Eleven circles = January; ten circles = February, ... zero circles = December.	Jeff Ellis 4/19/13
Agricultural Handicapped	07350 A E	Christopher F. spotted the first plate in the series - 00001 A/E on 2007-09-30. From Jeff Ellis: Stacked "A/E" screened through at least 02221A/E. Lowest embossed "A/E" sighted is 02301A/E, so embossed probably started at 02300A/E.	Jeff Ellis 3/11/09
Chesapeake Handicap	9494 D A	First available 26 Jan 04.	Jeff Ellis 4/20/12
Chesapeake Trailer	05821 G A		Christopher F. 4/11/09
Congressional Medal Of Honor	M H 009		Jeff Ellis 9/25/08
D.C. United	d c u 0046	D.C. United logo to left of serial, "dcunited.com" caption, D/C/U prefix screened. Serial embossed.	Tom Castelli 12/14/09
Disabled American Veterans	DAV 73nn	DAV prefix (NOT stacked) is screened in black outlined letters -- D is red, A is white, V is blue. Number is embossed.	Tom Castelli 10/22/12
Firemen's Association	F D 48212		Jeff Ellis 6/08/13
Hall Of Fame	h o f 1683	Commemorates the induction of Cal Ripken, Jr. to the Baseball Hall of Fame.	Brian Scott 3/01/11
Heron Handicap	23567 H P	From Jeff Ellis: Wheelchair and "H/P" screened to high of 13315H/P. Wheelchair embossed and "H/P" screened from low of 13541H/P through high of 13946H/P. Wheelchair AND "H/P" embossed from at low of 14121H/P.	Jeff Ellis 7/25/07
Heron Multi-Purpose	AEY 73V	AEY 99W was the final plate produced in the Heron multi-purpose series. When the original Bay plate debuted at the very end of 1990, for a premium price passenger car owners could get Bay plates with a BAY suffix. Somewhat lesser known is that the same deal applied to multipurpose vehicles. Jeff Ellis reports a high of BAY 41A in this rare type.	Joseph 8/06/05
Heron Pass	757 BNM	899 BNN was the final plate produced in the Heron passenger series. When the original Bay plate debuted at the very end of 1990, for a premium price passenger car owners could get Bay plates with a BAY suffix. High on this type is 520-BAY.	Jeff Ellis 6/24/12
Heron Taxi	B02 953	On the new Bay base, taxis use the passenger format.	Jeff Ellis 7/23/07
Heron Trailer	G08 891		Brian 7/16/06
Heron Truck	1EV 845	1EY 899 was the final plate produced in the Heron truck series.	Jeff Ellis 10/22/08
Honorably Discharged Veteran	H D V 2057	Standard Base. "Waving" US flag on flagpole graphic to left of serial. Stacked H/D/V screened. Motorcycle: 0106 H/D/V	Tom Castelli 8/08/12
Maryland’s Eastern Shore	M E S 2730	Crab graphic on plate.	Christopher F. 7/02/08
National Guard	N G 2617	Old style National Guard 00000N/G format no longer issued, but still valid. High is 03702N/G	Jeff Ellis 3/17/09
New Chesapeake Bay	01039 C F	This is the replacement for the Heron plate. First available 26 Jan 04. The first series ran through 99999 C/B, then B/Y, then C/A, then C/C, now C/D. Tiger Joe and Andrew Turnbull report spotting the low for the C/A series, 00001 C/A. The reported low for the C/B series is 00001 C/B. "Barbed wire" hologram started at 15000C/D. Switch to Avery sheeting at approximately 08000C/E.	Rob H. 6/16/13
Orioles	B A L 1383	New type for Baltimore Orioles, first issued June 2012. Orioles logo to left of serial. Like other special types, stacked B/A/L prefix is screened.	Tom Castelli 5/31/13
Penn State University	P S 2314		Jordan Irazabal 10/04/11
Port of Baltimore 300th Anniv.	P/ O R T 444	Quadruple stacked alpha characters. First AAAA-000 format MD plate.	Jeff Ellis 7/03/09
Prisoner of War	P O W 194		Jay Embee 9/02/10
Purple Heart	P H 04219	This is a graphic dating from around 1990. The original, plainer 86-base Purple Heart plate in the PH00001 format is off the roads.	Jeff Ellis 8/14/07
Ravens	R A V 5289	Baltimore Ravens logo to left of serial. R/A/V stacked prefix screened.	Jordan Irazabal 3/22/13
Spay and Neuter	P E T 3150		Greg Crum 10/23/12
Univ. of Notre Dame Alumni	N D 317		Jeff Ellis 7/14/08
University of Maryland	U M D 2231	Original format: U/M 0000	Christopher F. 2/20/09
Washington Capitals	N H L 0330	Stacked prefix screened, serial embossed. Logo to left of serial.	Tom Perri 11/11/10
Washington Redskins	F A N 1232	Redskins helmet to left of serial. F/A/N stacked prefix screened, serial embossed.	Tom Castelli 12/13/12