Vehicle registration plates of California

Uncommon card · No. 164713

The U.S. state of California first required its residents to register their motor vehicles in 1905. Registrants provided their own license plates for display until 1914, when the state began to issue plates. Plates are currently issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Front and rear plates are required on most types of vehicle in California, including all passenger vehicles. On motorcycles and some other non-passenger types, only rear plates are required. On all vehicle types, registration validation stickers are also required, to be displayed on the rear plate, except that truck tractors and commercial vehicles with gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more shall display them on the front plate. Since 1947, California license plates have been manufactured by inmates at Folsom State Prison. Until around 2005, California used a reverse, or debossed, beaded edge. It was gradually phased out over the next few years in favor of a beveled edge, but still sometimes appears...

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