License Plate Collecting

A hobby, popular among enthusiasts worldwide and supported by organizations such as the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, of collecting the vehicle registration plates issued by different countries, states, provinces and localities. France and Germany were the first European countries to produce license plates, and in the United States, New York became the first state to require them, in 1903, with most other states following in the early twentieth century; early plates were made of porcelain baked onto iron or ceramic without backing, making them fragile, and collectors began preserving old examples rather than discarding them. The American Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, founded in 1954, had grown to some 2,800 members across nineteen countries as of 2024, reflecting the scope the hobby now covers across national, state, provincial and even private-versus-commercial plate varieties.