The interest begins early for most avid license plate collectors. They remember helping Dad or Grandpa tack old plates up inside the garage. Their fascination becomes a bona fide hobby as soon as they are old enough to drive. Along with parking and speeding tickets, they zealously start collecting license plates from around the world.
“Scary as it seems, I know of collectors with 50,000, 75,000 and even accumulations of license plates that reach into the six figures,” says Drew Steitz, editor of PL8S Magazine, a bimonthly East Texas, Pa., publication that takes its name from the vanity plate version of the word “plates.” Steitz says his own modest collection totals more than 1,500.
But don’t let the numbers scare you: License plate collecting largely remains an affordable hobby. While some rare vintage tags might set you back thousands of dollars, “you can get a single Illinois plate from the 1970s for $1 to $2,” says Chicago collector Barney Schukraft.
What’s more, plate collecting is also a hobby that you can tailor to suit your own particular taste. “How many hobbies can boast pieces with myriad colors, designs, origins, types, sizes and materials?” says Steitz.
So if you’re like Brookfield resident Ken Norin, who used to ride motorcycles a lot, you might want to acquire motorcycle tags to remind you of your Harley-Davidson days. If you’re a schoolteacher, a bunch of school bus plates could be a way to remember your pupils. A paramedic? Ambulance tags might be the way to go.
You get the idea.
As an elected official, Manhattan resident Mike Naughton likes to collect elected officials’ car tags. “They’re hard to get,” he says. “There’s not too many (available) and there’s a lot of demand. Most elected officials like to keep ’em.”
He also likes to collect special-events plates, which became popular in the 1930s when various groups, such as the Lions Club, made up tags to commemorate special events. His favorite? A 1968 Democratic Convention Plate with a donkey on it. “It was one of the more unusual special-event plates,” he says.
Naughton’s also fond of a 1968 plate that honored a NASA space mission.Naughton says only eight pairs of such plates were issued. He found his set at a garage sale.
But many collectors begin by collecting a plate from every state for the year they were born. “Depending on whether you’re a spring chicken or a crusty old codger, this can be a snap or a nightmare,” says Steitz.
The crusty old codger that he is, Steitz completed a set of 1937 U.S. and Canadian plates for his parents’ bar/rec room. Yet he notes that plates of this vintage can range from as little as $8 to hundreds of dollars per plate.
“I have a mint 1937 Yukon plate in my collection, and with only 115 cars registered in the Yukon that year, you can bet that was a toughie,” he says.
If you were born in the 1960s, your task is easier. “It’s not too bad a set to compile, and there’s lots of interesting colors and slogans,” he notes
However, if you were born during World War II, you might have a difficult time. Many local governments either reused old plates, issued special stickers or small metal tabs or none at all during that time to save scarce metal.
“These sets can be nearly impossible to complete,” says Steitz.
Some states issued fiberboard license plates. Schukraft owns hundreds of these unusual tags. “They’re very solid and durable,” he says.
Before collecting license plates became popular, you could scour junkyards for hard-to-find items. But those days are gone, says Steitz. “Most yard owners lean toward charging for everything they possibly can, and they really haven’t a clue as to the value of junked plates,” he says. “You might find 20 plates in a day of searching, only to find some yard boss trying to charge you $5 a pop for $1 to $2 tags.”
Beware of reproductions during your search. “Some of the scarcer plates have been reproduced,” says Schukraft. “Some are so good, you can’t tell the difference.”
Another way to obtain some plates is to write to the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state, says Steitz. “Some places will send you a few sample plates for nothing, though most will charge a nominal fee, usually a few bucks up to around $10, and rarely a little more.”
Steitz has received “some good stuff” from DMVs. He recommends writing a letter explaining that you’re a plate collector and are seeking plates for your collection. A generic letter addressed to the DMV’s sample license plate division in the state’s capital has “proven 100 percent effective” for Steitz.
Probably the best way to collect other types of plates is to run newspaper ads describing what you seek, says Steitz.. “A good (classified) ad can generate some nice additions to anyone’s collection in no time,” he says. “Just be sure to start small and work your way up. Attempting to compile an overly difficult collection can lead to frustration, and the next thing you know, you’ve given up.”
Treat your new metal finds, especially the older ones, carefully. “I had one old plate. When I held it under the water faucet, the paint came right off,” says Schukraft. “Sometimes I leave ’em dirty because I know that if I wash them, stuff’s going to come off.”
Another good way to collect tags is to join a group such as the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association in Horner, W.Va. Call 304-842-3773 for information on the group. You can swap plates with other collectors at the group’s meetings.
“Try to do that at a baseball show. That’s not going to happen,” observes Naughton.
These swaps also are a great way to meet fellow plate collectors. “It’s a very fraternal organization,” says Naughton.
