Question:

Thank you for the info. I remember it was about 1986 or so when the state of Washington sent me a letter stating that according to their records I had older non-reflectorized plates and needed to get new plates. That’s when I got “FORD 65” In 1992 or so I had moved to Colorado and when the personalized plates went to 7 digits I got “FORD 65′ as well. The second person in line since like 4am got “MUSTANG” which was my first choice. According to a Gene Amole article in the Denver Post he got it because he had a Mustang plane. My second choice was the one I mentioned. How often do you get unused Colorado plates from 1965 and do you have some you haven’t put up for auction yet? When did Colorado begin to allow Year of Manufacture plates?

Answer:

The older unused stocks of plates are pretty well dried up, although a few groups show up now and then. Most of the older court houses in Colorado have been renovated or replaced, so there is no older stock to be found there. Colorado does not have any plates that require replacement on a regular basis, so stocks of plates get issued without any unused leftovers.

Colorado’s YOM law came in about thirteen or so years ago and was originally only for vehicles made in 1942 or before. About six years ago it was opened up to vehicles thirty or more years old. However, the regulations state that the date must be embossed onto the plate, and that pretty much puts the lid on at 1975. Since then plates have been validated with stickers except for dealer issues (dealer, depot tag, transporter, in-transit, and manufacurer, cycle dealer, and SME dealer) which carried embossed dates 1980 through 1998.