Missouri License Plates
Missouri's current base debuted June 16, 2008. There were be some changes that looked familiar since the series is a throwback to earlier issues. The new base features an embossed month, as well a having the first letter of the registration keyed to the expiration month, however, some month letters are different from earlier issues. Passenger format is AA1 A1A, but since the plates will begin in June, the first series will be JA rather than AA, which would be a January issue. It has also been reported that personalized plates, which originally had July expirations but were later changed to January, will return to July expirations. The validation sticker will be placed in the center of the plate.Stickers issued by the MODOR Central Office and in City of St. Louis are now printed with the plate number to prevent theft. Stickers printed at license offices with the plate number to prevent theft are also available at Kansas City and Springfield area offices now.
The first alpha on most new plates, including Passenger, RV, and Truck 6 & 12, will represent the expiration month. For plates that expire in the same month, such as Truck (18-80), the configuration will be random with no alpha representing an expiration month.
Missouri does not use the letter "O" on Passenger plates, but the numeral zero (0) is used in the third position, or first numeric position on some plates. There are only two numbers in the current format, and they appear in the third and fifth position on Passenger plates. The numbering follows a basic 01-99 progression, with the numbers progressing ahead of the letter.
Here is how the progression works. Remember that two numbers only are used on these plates, and they always appear in the third and fifth position. The letter "O" is not used, so if it looks like an "O" on the plate, it's actually a zero.
Using January as an example, the first plate would have been AA0 A1A.
AA0 A1A > AA0 A9A
AA1 A0A > AA1 A9A
AA2 A0A > AA2 A9A
and so on through
AA9 A0A > AA9 A9A
then
AA0 A1B > AA0 A9B
AA1 A0B > AA1 A9B
AA2 A0B > AA2 A9B
and so on through
AA9 A0B > AA9 A9B
After AA9 A9Z would come AA0 B1A
And then after AA9 Z9Z would come AB0 A1A
Matthew Hicks reports that some plates with a DE- (March), FE- (April), and HE- (May) prefix feature a much darker state outline and slightly darker shade of blue for the color fade on the bottom of the plates. It is unknown if this will be a universal change or just a production variation within some of the plates.
Stickers
11 - white on black
12 - black on red
13 - black on green
14 - black on orange
15 - black on yellow
16 - white on black
17 - black on red
18 - black on green
