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Maryland
bordered by the District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware
In the 1970s, Maryland passenger plates all expired on March 31 of the year indicated on the sticker. The red
on white base was the standard issue; the graphic Bicentennial plate was an extra-cost optional issue. Both plates
were first issued in 1975 and were valid through March 1980 with appropriate stickers.
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District of Columbia
bordered by Maryland and Virginia
D.C. Bicentennial plates were standard issues first seen in March 1974. Low serial numbers up to 1250 were VIP
plates assigned by the Mayor's office. Regular people were issued serials beginning at 100*001. From 1933 to 2001,
D.C. issued special event plates for U.S. presidential inagurations. These were valid license plates that could
be used on any vehicle in the U.S. for a period of a few months. President Jimmy Carter was inaugurated in 1977.
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Virginia
bordered by Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina
Like Maryland, Virginia offered a plain standard passenger car plate as well as an extra-cost graphic
Bicentennial plate. Notice the completely different dies used to embosss the serial numbers on these two bases.
The standard plate was issued from about 1973 to 1980 and was used for several years beyond that. The Bicentennial
plate can still be renewed even today.
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West Virginia
bordered by Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania
West Virginia passenger car plates from the mid-to-late 1970s are confusing. I'll spare you all the details,
but there were no plates or stickers indicating the year 1977. Two versions of the 1976 "map" graphic plate
expired in 1977 - the short serial die version with first character 1 through 7 with a screened "76" in the
lower right corner, and the tall serial die version with first characters 8, 9, O, N, and D with a "1976"
sticker covering the screened "76" on the plate, shown at left. The first serial character indicates the
expiration month - September in this case.
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Kentucky
bordered by Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio
This 1975 base plate was valid for three years with appropriate renewals stickers. The stickers themselves were
rounded at one corner so they'd fit snugly against the embossed border in the proper corner of the plate. The
motorist's county of residence is indicated at the bottom center.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Tennessee
bordered by Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri
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North Carolina
bordered by Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia
It's hard to believe that a state where slavery was legal until the 1860s would promote themselves as "First in
Freedom", but that's exactly what North Carolina did on this 1975 base plate. The controversial slogan was
absent from newly issued plates starting in about 1979, but these 1975 plates continued to be renewed and used
until about 1985.
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South Carolina
bordered by North Carolina and Georgia
This was South Carolina's first graphic plate, and their first multi-year base plate since World War II. It was
valid through November 1976 without stickers, and was used through 1980 with the appropriate expiraiton stickers.
That red thing in the middle of the plate is a palmetto, the state tree.
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Georgia
bordered by Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama
Georgia used this base plate from 1976 to 1982 with appropriate validation stickers. Despite the seemingly
generic numbering format, the first serial letter was actually a weight class code. "C" was one of the letters
used for the lightest weight class, which was for cars weighing only 1,000 to 3,000 pounds. The motorist's
county is identified with a sticker applied at the lower edge of the plate.
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Florida
bordered by Georgia and Alabama
1977 was a transition year for Florida license plates. Not only did they begin a state-wide replate, but also
the new plates abandoned the long practice of using county codes and weight codes. Pictured is an outgoing
old-school plate; the "12" indicates Lake County, and the lack of a letter indicates a passenger car weighing
between 2,501 and 3,500 pounds.
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Alabama
bordered by Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi
This graphic Alabama plate is considered to be a U.S. Bicentennial plate due to the logo in the lower right
corner, but was introduced in September 1976, two months after the date of the actual event. The plate was valid
without stickers through September 1977. Some of these plates had a county name sticker covering the blue bar at
the bottom.
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Mississippi
bordered by Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas
Mississippi issued its first graphic plate in October 1976. The plate had a screened '77 date in the sticker
well and was valid without stickers through October 1977. The motorist's county of residence is embossed at the
bottom of the plate.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Louisiana
bordered by Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Arkansas
bordered by Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri
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Oklahoma
bordered by Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri
Oklahoma was one of only four states in 1977 still issuing new plates every year. The slogan
"Oklahoma is OK" was first used in 1967; it seems rather lame today. The prefix letters "CG"
indicate the plate was issued to someone living in Craig County.
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Texas
bordered by Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico (and Mexico)
This base plate was introduced in 1975. Early versions had a star for a separator; in late 1975 or early 1976,
the separator was changed to the state outline.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
New Mexico
bordered by Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and Colorado. Shares a corner with Utah. (Also borders Mexico)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Arizona
bordered by New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and California. Shares a corner with Colorado. (Also borders Mexico)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Utah
bordered by Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. Shares a corner with New Mexico.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Nevada
bordered by Arizona, Utah, California, Oregon, and Idaho
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| (1977 plate needed) |
California
bordered by Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon
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Oregon
bordered by Nevada, California, Washington, and Idaho
These orange plates were issued to new registrants in the 1970s and 1980s, and like all Oregon passenger car
plates issued since 1955, can still be used today if continuously registered.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Washington
bordered by Oregon and Idaho (and Canada)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Idaho
bordered by Utah, Oregon, washington, Montana, and Wyoming (and Canada)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Montana
bordered by Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota (and Canada)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Wyoming
bordered by Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, and South Dakota
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Colorado
bordered by Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska. Shares a corner with Arizona.
Colorado introduced its long-running white on green mountain base plate in 1977, and it was valid without stickers
during its first year. In 1978 and subsequent years, these plates were validated with stickers applied
to the rear plate only. The BE serial prefix identifies the plate as having been issued to a Denver County
motorist. The xx-0000 serial format was issued during the first few years; as each county's
allotment of prefix letters were used up, they then switched to issuing other formats.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Kansas
bordered by Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, and Missouri
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Nebraska
bordered by Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri
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South Dakota
bordered by Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa
South Dakota pioneered the use of screened graphics in the 1950s and by the mid-1970s had gotten pretty
sophisticated. This base plate was issued and used in 1976 without stickers, and was kept current with renewal
stickers through 1981. The ME serial prefix identifies this plate as being from Minnehaha County.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
North Dakota
bordered by Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota (and Canada)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Minnesota
bordered by South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Iowa (and Canada)
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Wisconsin
bordered by Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan
Hello, Wisconsin! This is the type of plate that would have been used on Eric Forman's Vista Cruiser or one of
the other classic cars featured on That 70's Show. The letters at the bottom left corner actually read
"APR", indicating an April expiration. The bolt hole clobbered most of the right leg of the letter "R".
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Iowa
bordered by Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Illinois
On the 1975 base plates, Iowa went to an alphanumeric serial format, with each 6 character serial only used once
statewide. However, they also retained their county number codes, resulting in a bizarre 0/0xxx000 serial format.
94 is the number code for Webster County. This base plate was renewed with stickers through 1978.
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Missouri
bordered by Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois
Only people whose plates expired during the first half of year actually had these spiffy 1977 expiration
Bicentennial plates on their cars on the date of the actual Bicentennial. Everyone else still had the completely
ordinary 1976 expiration plates, and only got their Bicentennial plates after the event was already over.
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Illinois
bordered by Kentucky, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Indiana
Illinois quickly ditched their graphic 1976 Bicentennial plates, reverting back to the same plain design they
had been using since the 1950s. In 1977, Illinois was only one of four states (along with Oklahoma, Missouri,
and Indiana) that were still replacing their plates every year.
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Indiana
bordered by Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio
This plate would seem to have expired in March 1976, but really it was March 1977. During the 1970s, Indiana
still annually issued new plates to all registrants. Once staggered expirations were begun, the expiration year
was normally shown on the plate; Indiana plates actually expiring in 1976 had the 1976 date on the plate and were
non-graphic. A lot of other states had issued Bicentennial commemorative plates, and Indiana jumped on the
bandwagon at the last minute, with these plates that were issued in 1976 and expired in 1977. Plates issued in
1977 and expiring in 1978 once again bore the expiration year. The number(s) to the left of the minuteman graphic
identify the county; "38" is for Jay County.
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Michigan
bordered by Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio (and Canada)
In my book, this plate wins the prize for "Plate of the Decade" for the entire 1970s. It's patriotic,
and very colorful - like a loud, plaid sport jacket with extra-wide 1970s lapels.
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Ohio
bordered by West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania
In contrast to the Michigan plate, they don't get much more boring than this one from neighboring Ohio. Ohio used
a variety of serial formats to identify the region of the state the plates was issued; this format with a single letter
prefix would be from the central part of the state, near Columbus. This base plate was issued starting in April 1976
and was valid through May 1977 without stickers. Stickers indicating the expiraiton month and year were then used to
validate this plate through 1980.
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Pennsylvania
bordered by Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York
Pennsylvania was the first state to issue Bicentennial plates in March 1971, and was also among the first to
replace them in March 1977. These plates were valid without stickers in 1977 and were on the road through 1999.
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Delaware
bordered by Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey
Non-embossed plates with screened registration numbers have become commonplace in recent years, but the company
that produced Delaware plates pioneered this method of plate manufacture beginning in about 1970. Delaware plates
have remained essentially unchanged since then, except for a couple of different serial number fonts briefly
used on plates made in the early 2000s.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
New Jersey
bordered by Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York
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New York
bordered by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont (and Canada)
New York used these obnoxious blue on orange plates from 1973 to 1986. Six character serials were issued
until 1980, and some letter suffixes were loosely assigned by county, although apparently IKG was not among
these. The sticker box was never used; current registrations were indicated with windshield stickers.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Connecticut
bordered by New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Rhode Island
bordered by Connecticut and Massachusetts
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Massachusetts
bordered by New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Vermont
bordered by New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire (and Canada)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
New Hampshire
bordered by Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine (and Canada)
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Maine
bordered by New Hampshire (and Canada)
The plate shown was issued in 1974 and renewed several times. At the time, Maine instructed motorists to
apply subsequent year stickers in each successive corner in a clockwise direction. The embossed year was removed
from Maine plates beginning in 1975.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Alaska
(bordered by Canada)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Hawaii
(Pacific Islands)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
American Samoa
(Pacific Island)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Guam
(Pacific Island)
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Canal Zone
(bordered by Panama)
The Canal Zone was a strip of land, administered by the U.S. from 1903 to 1979, that flanked the Panama Canal.
A 1977 treaty between the U.S. and Panama returned jurisdiciton of the Canal Zone to Panama in 1979, and turned
over operation of the canal itself in 1999. Note that the legend on the plate is written in English, rather than
Spanish.
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| (1977 plate needed) |
Puerto Rico
(Carribean Island)
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| (1977 plate needed) |
U.S. Virgin Islands
(Carribean Islands)
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