High
Numbers for the
Arizona Plates, 1912-1936
Everyone knows
the lowest-numbered plate made, it's
usually #1. The highest numbers will never be known since
actual plate production statistics are not known to exist. So to
get some idea of how high plate numbers reached, one needs
to keep track of the highs. Some of the highs are unissued
plates that were never registered to vehicles. Plate
overproduction was common in Arizona and at times exceeded
the actual vehicle registration figures by 25% or more.
The tables that
follow show the highest numbers known
for every year from prestate to 1958. With the exception of
1912-21, and 1947, all other plate numbers are from actual
sightings.
1912-21 are documented Motor Vehicle statistics. 1914 and 1917
are from unissued plates that were known to exist at one time.
Blank cells just mean that no sightings from that county/year
have
taken place as of yet and doesn't necessarily indicate any great
scarcity.
Many of the figures are very beatable while others will
be difficult to surpass.
If you happen to have any plates that top the charts, feel free
to
contact me at AzPlates@GMail.com and updates will be made.
Special thanks
goes out to Wally Punzmann and Eric Tanner
for their efforts in getting these highs all started.
This #7159, is
near the top of the 1915 registrations.
Photo was taken on Yarnell Hill, between Wickenburg and Prescott,
Az.
Credit: Photo from the
collection of Desert Caballeros Western Museum,
Wickenburg, Arizona
| The last prestate ,#3584, was issued on 11/24/13. Total prestate registrations included all commercial vehicles and motorcycles. |
|
| 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 |
| 5050 | 7325 | 12124 | 19999 | 24300 | 28979 | 34619 | 35049 |
| 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 |
| 277 | 64 | 84 | 275 |
Above are the LOWEST numbers known for
passenger plates for these four years.
For 1917, Dealers used the 100-200 block of which 2 are known. No
1917 passenger
plates were produced using numbers from that same block.
| County | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 |
| Maricopa | 1-14365 | 1-17984 | 1-20003 | 1-25112 | 1-28917 | 1-31050 | 1-40077 |
| Cochise | 2-4066 | 2-5723 | 2-6722 | 2-7390 | 2-5810 | 2-8342 | 2-8376 |
| Pima | 3-4573 | 3-5600 | 3-7265 | 3-7792 | 3-8833 | 3-10024 | 3-11826 |
| Gila | 4-1547 | 4-3700 | 4-5055 | 4-5707 | 4-6568 | 4-6847 | 4-7269 |
| Yavapai | 5-2279 | 5-4125 | 5-4278 | 5-5585 | 5-6575 | 5-7584 | 5-7895 |
| Yuma | 6-1745 | 6-2203 | 6-2404 | 6-2986 | 6-3366 | 6-3653 | 6-4155 |
| Pinal | 7-1284 | 7-1713 | 7-2107 | 7-3117 | 7-3375 | 7-4005 | 7-1940 |
| Graham | 8-1067 | 8-1297 | 8-1389 | 8-1799 | 8-1796 | 8-1875 | 8-2192 |
| Santa Cruz | 9-316 | 9-629 | 9-1637 | 9-727 | 9-1391 | ||
| Mohave | 10-1227 | 10-1488 | 10-1411 | 10-1216 | 10-1090 | 10-1385 | 10-1616 |
| Coconino | 11-1003 | 11-1335 | 11-1620 | 11-1748 | 11-2125 | 11-2238 | 11-2894 |
| Navajo | 12-1062 | 12-1337 | 12-1694 | 12-1351 | 12-2299 | 12-1470 | 12-2235 |
| Apache | 14-336 | 14-545 | 14-618 | 14-555 | 14-543 | 14-813 | 14-1131 |
| Greenlee | 13-490 | 15-1060 | 15-1132 | 15-802 | 15-532 |
Greenlee started off with the 13 prefix and switched to 15 in 1924.
1929 Santa Cruz |
![]() 1931 Apache |
| County | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | |
| Maricopa | 56-697 | 5-40-54 | A | 6-39-20 | 3C1P | 2L4Y | 3K3U | 4U7J | 5S 1R |
| Cochise | 81-592 | 8-16-02 | B | 8-23-67 | 9RJ5 | 9UA8 | 9SY8 | 9XJ4 | 8B 6E |
| Pima | 97-754 | 10-12-53 | C | 9-98-05 | E2E4 | D7K7 | E2U5 | E3U6 | F4 F6 |
| Gila | 112-056 | 11-30-41 | D | 11-61-44 | GU28 | GH46 | GK36 | F8C4 | F9 D3 |
| Yavapai | 128-627 | 12-87-60 | E | 13-11-63 | H3B2 | H1L2 | H3L4 | H4T2 | H8 S9 |
| Yuma | 135-130 | 13-30-14 | F | 13-71-35 | NT73 | NT24 | NX64 | NL43 | N1 X2 |
| Pinal | 144-616 | 14-28-78 | G | 14-53-00 | P7T9 | P3G9 | P3J4 | RU73 | P1 G7 |
| Graham | 152-549 | 15-33-27 | H | 15-20-31 | ST63 | SN49 | SZ56 | S3H4 | S3 U1 |
| Santa Cruz | 156-672 | 15-60-89 | J | 15-63-83 | TV17 | TU13 | TP97 | TY65 | TZ 23 |
| Mohave | 162-260 | 16-22-53 | K | 16-23-27 | U68G | U67A | UV42 | UZ72 | U4 D3 |
| Coconino | 167-959 | 16-89-87 | L | 16-89-94 | V3D4 | V1L3 | V6C2 | V6V7 | V8 X9 |
| Navajo | 172-785 | 17-34-04 | M | 17-35-76 | X1H1 | X1C9 | X3X8 | X1Y2 | X6 E6 |
| Apache | 175-908 | 17-63-05 | N | 17-66-49 | YF84 | YN31 | YR11 | YS58 | YR 76 |
| Greenlee | 181-725 | 18-22-50 | P | 18-22-96 | ZR88 | ZK32 | ZN73 | ZF84 | ZP 18 |
This 1931 Greenlee
County is the highest known of all the 1931 plates.