Illinois License Plates

Xavier FitzSimons - 22 Oct ’21

Dustin Schuchard has confirmed that all 900 0000 block plates are being issued at car dealerships, but some are now being issued through Secretary of State offices. Those plates have reached as high as 999 9170, but Joey Hurd reports a newly issued 983 1123 on 2005-12-25, so they appear to be scattered.

Joey Hurd reports that somewhere in the 550 0000 series, the Abe graphic was made lighter and the blue band across the bottom was made thinner. 554 8454 is the high for the old style, 555 4864 is the low for the new style. Vincent Perillo reports that the 554 series has the wider band and the 555 series has the thinner band.

Ken Reager - 8 Nov ’12

Joey Hurd reports that these lower numbers are already becoming scarce on the road. Noodle reports seeing 8, which is the lowest number available in Illinois that is not reserved for a government official.

Joey Hurd reports 100 0008 belongs to retired Governor Jim Thompson.

Joey Hurd - 7 Dec ’13

After all-numeric 7 digit plates reached 999 9999, the remainder of the Gnn nnnn series was issued, then Xnn nnnn, Ann nnnn, Hnn nnnn, Knn nnnn, Lnn nnnn, Nnn nnnn, Pnn nnnn, Rnn nnnn, Snn nnnn, Vnn nnnn, Enn nnnn, Ynn nnnn, and now Znn nnnn. It appears that after exhausting the E series, the last part of the Ynn nnnn series is being issued. The Y series was only issued through Y67 nnnn on the previous base, so the unused Y series numbers are now being issued on the current base.

Highs in order of prefix letter appearance:

G high - G98 0207

X high - X99 9936

A high - A99 7721

H high - H89 7160

K high - K99 8417

L high - L99 8688

N high - N99 9933

P high - P99 9967

R high - R99 9984

S high - S99 8541

V high - V99 7027

E high - E99 9411

Y high - Y99 2951

Although the C series is not known in this format, Gunther Frostyburger reports seeing C89 7813.

As with some other states, Illinois plate numbers are all over the place. Keith Foreman proves that point by informing us that he just received new plates for a new car in Feb. 2011 with the number K51 3190, yet he received K50 3791 in Oct. 2009 for another car.

Keith reports an unusual general issue number, 0111. Illinois does not generally issue a leading zero on any types other than State-Owned Trailer. Joey Hurd reports Illinois issues leading "0" for passenger dealer series and for the highly-coveted four-digit plates. They are available through connections to IL State Gov't.

Gunther Frostyburger reports T51 9581 and T 60 0169 on the new base. They were originally issued on the old base and were kept by the owner.

Keith Foreman spotted Z18 1263 on 2014-08-26, but no other Z series plates in this format have been seen. Keith also spotted Z30 641, which was obviously an older number, but it was on a new plate.

- 25 Aug ’19

Jacco Hoekstra - 21 Nov ’18

Black on tan

Validated for 5 years at a time. Vehicles displaying these plates may only be driven to and from an antique auto show, exhibition, service station, or demonstration.

Matthew - 8 Oct ’21

96 reported as a low by Keith Foreman.

It appears Q was skipped. We reported earlier that it appeared R was skipped, but it has been confirmed as being issued.

Now issuing 7 digit all numeric. The plate has the numerals all the way to the left side of the plate so it looks uneven and there is no spacing. This series must have started at 1000000 after they reached 99 999 Z.

7 digit low: 1000751 Jeff Glenn

Chris Scott - 12 Sep ’21

51 273C/V reported by Ace on 2009-10-17, but this was for a Trailer, so different blocks of numbers may be used for different classes.

Keith Foreman - 3 Mar ’15

Jacco Hoekstra - 21 Nov ’18

From John Congdon: Unlike the 'special' series plates with the stacked letters (like the new EN suffix for Environmental plates) all EL plates have the same size for numbers and the EL letters at the end. They also are offered at a reduced cost and renewed every 2 years.

1 EL reported as a low.

Matthew - 10 Oct ’21

Vehicles displaying these plates during the months of January-March and November-December may only be driven to and from an antique auto show or exhibition, service station or demonstration. Vehicles displaying these plates during the months of April-October may be driven on the highways without being subject to the restrictions of a standard antique vehicle plate.

Matthew - 15 Sep ’21

Used on fleet telecom vans, UPS vehicles, etc.

Keith Foreman reports a low of F/P4955.

Michael Belz - 5 Jul ’21

New designer style

Joey Hurd - 26 Jun ’06

Illinois Commerce Commission. C 2 reported as a low by Ace. Now identical to State Police plates, but with C prefix.

Ace - 26 Oct ’12

Annual plates; different color scheme every year.

Jeff Glenn - 6 Feb ’20

This a new 2015 issue and is dark blue on bright green. Also has LIVERY spelled vertically on the left side of plate then a space between that & the serial.

1L/Y reported as the low by Mike Macik. 26L/Y was reported by Keith Foreman.

Clark Wothe - 1 Jul ’21

Charles Fregeau - 29 Jun ’13

Mini Abe graphic - new numbering format. AA 693 is the lowest reported in this format.

Jeff Glenn - 1 Feb ’20

Green on white

M 4 and M 5 reported by FLB as lows in use by the Venice Police Dept.

M 301 reported as Municipal Wheelchair by Jeff Glenn on 2008-03-06.

Keith Foreman reports Municipal Trailer M 098509. The leading zero apparently is only on Trailer plates. In addition to the usual small P (for Permanent) in the upper left corner, Trailer has a small T in the upper right.

Normal spacing for this type is M 123 456, but M192083 has no spacing. Now there is only one space, and it is between the letter and the numbers.

- 27 Jan ’21

- 15 Aug ’18

M/P10 reported as a low by Keith Foreman.

Matthew - 17 Jun ’21

Blue on white

Keith Foreman reports P 44 as a low.

Martin Houle - 8 Sep ’20

Public Transportation license plates are issued to any privately owned First or Second Division motor vehicle used, maintained or operated for the non-emergency transportation of persons for compensation.

Clark Wothe - 24 Jul ’21

Chris Martin - 20 Jul ’21

Green cursive and Abe format.

1R/V reported as a low by Keith Foreman.

Chris Martin - 11 Oct ’21

1333 SB reported as a low by Jeff Glenn.

- 7 Sep ’21

KE4MAN reports 25S/T as a low.

Chris Martin - 16 Oct ’21

This baseplate may replace the S green small P perm plates used on Sheriff vehicles. Numbering format is S 1-23. with the first number being the county number, and the second number being the unit number. County numbers (1-102) are determined alphabetically by county name.

Ace reports just plain 2 on the State Police format with no S or county number.

Ace - 13 Apr ’12

State-owned vehicles

Keith Foreman reports a low of U 3

Keith Foreman reports an oddity of U 66A, which is the first he has seen with a letter. The A was smaller than the numbers.

- 15 Jun ’20

This is not the annual baseplate used for City of Chicago taxis. Ace reports it appears that most, if not all numbers below 10000 in this series are dedicated to the City of Chicago.

Keith Foreman reports 2 TX as a low.

Clark Wothe - 24 Jun ’21

Temps have progressed from T, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, and P, to the R series. Q was skipped.

Motorcycle Temporary plates are in use, but they have 5 digits instead of 6 as on Passenger, and they are smaller in size.

Motorcycle Temp High: 95K 103 2015-05-23 Keith Foreman

Matthew - 14 Aug ’21

1 17T/W reported as a low by Ace.

Jeff Glenn - 7 Aug ’15

There is a Motorcycle Trailer plate that is the same size as Motorcycle plates, but it resembles standard T/A plates.

Motorcycle Trailer high: 2013A T/A 2014-07-19 David Wilson

Brett Weisbrot - 24 Aug ’21

Blue on white

Martin Houle - 29 Jul ’20

A low of 28 was spotted by Joey Hurd.

Keith Foreman reports B 803 on a Motorcycle plate, same format as Pass. plates, but in the smaller Motorcycle size.

Danny K. - 26 Jul ’21

Front windows are not allowed to be tinted in Illinois without authorization from a doctor. On Lincoln fade base.

Matthew - 9 Jul ’21

Joey Hurd reported 1013A/G as a general issue low.

Matthew - 4 Feb ’21

37 P/A reported as a low by Joey Hurd. 1001 P/A was also spotted by Joey Hurd. It was the first regular over-the-counter issue of this type.

Joey Hurd - 30 Oct ’07

21 A/R reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Matthew - 17 Sep ’21

Matthew - 18 Feb ’21

Matthew - 24 Feb ’21

Debuted 2011

Matthew - 21 Jul ’21

Joey Hurd - 29 Apr ’12

Matthew - 6 Mar ’21

1001E/D spotted by Joey Hurd. That is the lowest available for a regular issue, however, Joey also reports 1E/D that belongs to a politically well-connected person. 3E/D has also been seen by Joey.

Matthew - 7 Feb ’21

E 11 reported as a low on the original type by Joey Hurd.

31E/N reported as a low by Keith Foreman on the second type.

Matthew - 23 Aug ’21

2L/E reported as a low by Keith Foreman.

Matthew - 11 Mar ’21

17F/F reported as a low by Jeff Glenn

Matthew - 6 Aug ’21

Matthew - 24 Apr ’21

H 19 reported as a low by Mike Macik. These will be replaced by H/I suffix plates so the H series will be available for eventual use in the passenger series. 14H/I reported as a low on the new series by Joey Hurd.

Jeff Glenn - 25 Sep ’10

1I/P reported as a low by Jeff Glenn.

Matthew - 22 Aug ’21

16C/A reported as a low by Keith Foreman.

Joey Hurd - 26 Jul ’09

1 H/S reported as a low by KE4MAN.

Matthew - 28 Feb ’21

Matthew - 12 Mar ’21

19A/L reported as a low by Joey Hurd. The A/L suffix is screened in red.

Joey Hurd - 13 May ’12

Matthew - 1 Mar ’21

2 M/M reported as a low by Keith Foreman.

Matthew - 17 Feb ’21

4C/B reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Ace - 28 Jan ’09

70N/G reported as a low by Eric Sivertsen.

Joey Hurd - 24 Jan ’09

6A/N reported as a low by Keith Foreman. 1095A/N reported as a general low by Joey Hurd.

Matthew - 24 Aug ’21

1D/N reported as a low by KE4MAN.

Matthew - 5 Mar ’21

Eric Sivertsen reports 1Y/P as a low.

Matthew - 23 Feb ’21

1P/F reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Matthew - 13 May ’21

7P/V reported as a low by Jeff Glenn.

Matthew - 10 Aug ’21

This is an optional plate, not a special event plate. 6S/S reported as a low by Ace.

Matthew - 9 Feb ’21

53 SV reported as a low by Jeff Glenn.

Joey Hurd - 23 Feb ’05

65S/F reported as a low by Jeff Glenn.

Matthew - 7 Mar ’21

1S/W reported as a low by Jeff Glenn.

Matthew - 8 Mar ’21

284S/D reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Matthew - 26 Feb ’21

1S/P reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Matthew - 3 Mar ’21

160S/Y reported as a low by Ace.

Joey Hurd - 19 Oct ’06

1A/A reported as a low by Noodle.

Matthew - 22 Feb ’21

2A/C reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Matthew - 19 Mar ’21

First Ill. college series honoring an out of state college.

Joey Hurd - 6 Feb ’12

156C/K reported as a low by Ace.

Willie C. Brock, Jr. - 25 Jan ’14

Jeff Glenn - 20 Sep ’21

98W/P reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Matthew - 4 Mar ’21

7R/F reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Joey Hurd - 16 Sep ’08

A new type in November 2009.

Matthew - 16 Apr ’21

New style - with the D/V suffix. Joey Hurd reports 8D/V for a low.

Ace - 19 Feb ’16

Keith Foreman - 5 Jul ’10

Pearl Harbor Survivor plates with a P prefix will be replaced with a P/H suffix so the P series will be available for eventual use in the passenger series.

Eric Sivertsen - 27 Jul ’06

968P/R reported as a low by Ace.

A 12 reported as a low by Eric Sivertsen on the previous format. A 13112 reported by Joey Hurd as the high.

Purple Heart plates now have a stacked P/R prefix to eliminate the former A prefix plates for eventual use as passenger series.

Ace - 21 Aug ’15

U/S is the universal plate for people in any branch of the armed forces. Joey Hurd reports 35U/S as the low for this type.

Matthew - 28 Mar ’21

635K/W reported as a low by Keith Foreman.

Ace - 19 Feb ’09

2V/N reported as a low by Joey Hurd.

Keith Foreman - 21 Oct ’13

199W/W reported as a low by Ace.

Matthew - 29 Mar ’21

First available July 15, 2008. Same as other Veteran design, but smaller.

Ace - 31 Jan ’09

Y67 6916 was spotted by Mark O'Neil on 12-31-05, re-made on the current Abe base.

Clark Wothe - 30 Jul ’02

Keith Foreman reports seeing a newly issued B Truck in the KM series, which probably indicates that all Z series plates through 99 999 have been issued, and the series has probably picked up where the last base ended.

See "New B Truck" below.

Doug DeMuro - 13 Jun ’03

Joey Hurd reports 1515 P/B/O as mint leftover stock.

Keith Foreman - 20 Feb ’10