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The ads appear daily in the classified sections of local Delaware newspapers: "Delaware license plate, 4 digits, $3000 or best offer." A license plate costing thousands of dollars? Does that price include the car too? Are people just giving away the car and selling just the plates for the cost of the car to somehow beat the tax man?
Not in Delaware. The tiny state with a population still pushing towards one million still issues license plates containing all numerical characters. A Delaware license plate number can contain up to six digits and the low ones have achieved a cachet that is legendary among Delaware residents. Delawareans love their license plates so much that one of the state's hottest selling holiday gift items each year is a diminuitive solid-gold reproduction of a customer's Delaware license plate.
Obtaining a low-numbered license plate is a random process. When a new vehicle is registered with the Delaware Department of Motor Vehicles the next available plate in numerical sequence is issued. That doesn't necessarily mean the highest number (currently above 980000). If a number has recently become inactive through death or non-renewal that is lower than a new number, that is the number that will be issued.
The first law mandating the registration of Delaware license plates appeared in 1905. The law required the placement of a required marker on the rear of the vehicle indicating "Arabic numerals not less than three inches in height." These plates could be of any material and were created by the owners. Some drivers merely painted their Delaware number on the back of a Pennsylvania plate which was not only expedient but helped satisfy dual automobile laws in the adjoining states.
The first official Delaware license plates began in 1909. These were handsome white on black porcelain plates which are sold today as replicas. Automobile ownership was rare in Delaware in the pre-World War I days and it wasn't until 1911 that the first four-digit Delaware license plate had to be issued. As late as 1916, when the fancy porcelain plates gave way to less expensive painted steel plates, there still weren't 5000 automobiles registered in Delaware.
The low numbered Delaware license plates became so coveted they are typically passed down through families for generations. Seldom does such a low number make its way back to the public. In past years a two-digit number became available but rather than hand that prize out randomly the state of Delaware auctioned it off instead.
So just how much is a Delaware license plate worth? Although a five-digit plate can raise a half eyebrow, the interest doesn't begin until the four-digit plates. A low four-digit Delaware license plate can fetch into the thousands of dollars and two-digit plates will run into the tens of thousands of dollars. To cash in on that bonanza, however, the plate must be legally attached to a car. The seller must retain the rights to the number (retained through annual registration) and be able transfer those rights to the buyer at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
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