Plates History

Contents

• » The Early Years
• » The 80's
• » The 90's
• » The 2000 Sydney Olympics and beyond

The Early Years

• 1910 The first number plates in NSW were issued with numerals only and plates for trucks were prefixed by the letter 'L' to denote lorry.
• 1937 Numeric plates were replaced with 2 letter and 3 number black plates with white characters.
• 1951 Yellow plates with 3 letters and 3 numbers were introduced. NSW was allocated the prefix letters 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D' and 'E' and the letter 'F' for trucks.
• 1969 Personal number plates were introduced.

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The 80's

• 1980 Reflective lemon yellow plates were introduced with the slogan 'NSW - THE PREMIER STATE'. A reflective plate was introduced for motorcycles.
• 1981 Custom plates (now Personalised Plus plates) were introduced with the slogan 'NSW - THE PREMIER STATE'.
• 1982 A single motor vehicle traders' plate was introduced to allow vehicle manufacturers, repairers and dealers to move unregistered vehicles. Reflective yellow plates with the State slogan 'NSW - THE PREMIER STATE' were introduced for public vehicles.
• 1983 The first Numeral Only plate auction was held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The auction was called the 'Great Plate Auction' and 5,000 people attended. This was a new Australian record for attendance at an auction. There were 111 plates sold and total proceeds were $1,418,600. The highest price paid was $50,500 for the plate "6". The press reported that this plate has subsequently sold for approaching $1M. Trading rights were introduced for Numeral Only plates.
• 1984 Second Numeral Only plate auction was held, with a further 111 plates sold. Total proceeds were $328,450. The highest price paid was $14,500 for the plate "900".
• 1987 Special plates were made from aluminum, with reflective yellow gold film. They had no State slogan, just NSW at the top centre of the plate. Bicentennial number plates were introduced until the end of 1988. More than 160,000 were sold.
  
• 1988 Ninety Numeral Only plates were auctioned raising $446,000.
• 1989 The issue of 2 letter and 3 number yellow cycle plates was ceased (except for personalised plates).General issue cycle plates were changed to yellow plates with 3 letters and 2 numbers.

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The 90's

• 1990 The slogan 'NSW - THE PREMIER STATE' was replaced with the customer's choice of either the slogan 'NEW SOUTH WALES' or 'NSW - THE FIRST STATE'.
• 1991 General Issue Premium plates were introduced. They have 3 letters, 2 numbers and 1 letter, with black characters on a reflective white background.
• 1994 The slogan 'NSW-THE FIRST STATE' was replaced with the slogan 'NSW-TOWARDS 2000'
  Personalised Premium plates in 3 letters,2 numbers and 1 letter format were first made available. Existing 3 letters, 3 number plates could not be remade in the Premium style. Remakes of the following combinations became available in this style:
  • 2 letters and 3 numbers
  • 2 letters and 4 numbers
  • 3 letters and 3 numbers
  • Custom (Personalised Plus)
• 1997 RSL plates were introduced to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the RSL.
  
• 1998 Standard Olympic plates were introduced. They had black characters on a reflective white background with a blue stripe along the bottom of the plate containing the slogan 'SHARE THE SPIRIT'.
  
• 1999 Premium Olympic plates were introduced.
  

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The 2000 Sydney Olympics and beyond

• 2001 Number plates began to be made from embossed aluminium and no longer the embossed steel they had been made from since 1937.
  Centenary of Federation plates were introduced.
  
• 2002 Regional plates were announced. The first regional plate celebrated the New England region of NSW.
  European style plates (Euros) were introduced. The plates are extra-long at 520mmx110mm and were reflective white with black characters.
  
• 2003 The Special Number Plates unit formed within the RTA.
  Many colours such as bright red, dark green, vivid blue, and royal purple number plates were introduced in the slimline format.
  Rugby World Cup, Wallaby Special Edition and Wallaby Supporter Plates were issues to commemorate the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
• 2005 Four new metallic plate styles were introduced.
  
  
• 2006 A Numeral Only plate auction was held raising a record $4 million.
  Black Euro Plates were introduced.
  
• 2007 75th Anniversary Sydney Harbour Bridge plates were introduced in October-Numeral Only plate auction was held raising $2M.
  
• 2008 NRL Supporter Plates were launched and included a limited edition NRL plate auction.
• 2009 Pricing was simplified and one-off fees re-introduced for standard content plates. Over 20 new plate styles were released including four pink variants, six Prestige acrylic plates and four new Euro Icon plates. (Southern Cross and Harbour Bridge icons).
  
• 2010 The RTA announced that Plate Marketing Pty Ltd was appointed to manage and operate the myPlates Number Plate business under a 15 year partnering arrangement.

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