Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to issue license plates on September 1, 1903. Plates are currently issued by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV).
All plates since 1978 are currently valid. Prior to 1993, only rear plates were required; since the first "Spirit of America" plate was issued in 1986, front and rear plates have been required since. As such, the 1978-1993 issues continue to only require the rear plate, while the "Spirit of America" issues since 1986 require front and rear plates.
The very first Massachusetts license plate, "1", is still in use today. It was issued to Frederick Tudor, who also received the first license issued. He got the plate due to his work for the Massachusetts Highway Commission and his connection as the nephew of the wealthy Henry Lee Higginson, whose irritation with cars speeding by his estate led to him successfully petitioning for the state of Massachusetts to register all motor vehicles (previously, only the city of Boston had this requirement). This was the first license plate in the United States. His descendants have kept the plate registered and in use within the family.
Passenger baseplates 1903 to 1966 In 1956, the United States, Canada, and Mexico came to an agreement with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Automobile Manufacturers Association and the National Safety Council that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles (except those for motorcycles) at in height by in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1955 (dated 1956) issue was the first Massachusetts license plate that complied with these standards.
ImageDates issuedDesignSerial formatSerials issuedNotesWhite serial on blue porcelain plate; "MASS. AUTOMOBILE REGISTER" at top123451 to 262071908Blue serial on white porcelain plate; vertical "MASS" and "1908" at left and right respectively123451 to approximately 17500First dated plate.1909White serial on blue porcelain plate; vertical "MASS" and "1909" at left and right respectively123451 to approximately 235001910Blue serial on white porcelain plate; vertical "MASS" and "1910" at left and right respectively123451 to approximately 29000123451911White serial on blue porcelain plate; vertical "MASS" and "1911" at left and right respectively123451 to approximately 330001912Blue serial on white porcelain plate; vertical "MASS" and "1912" at left and right respectively123451 to approximately 410001913White serial on blue porcelain plate; vertical "MASS" and "1913" at left and right respectively123451 to approximately 545001914Blue serial on white porcelain plate; vertical "MASS" and "1914" at left and right respectively123451 to approximately 620001915White serial on blue porcelain plate; vertical "MASS" and "1915" at left and right respectively123451 to approximately 795001916Dark blue serial on cream flat metal plate; vertical "MASS" and "1916" at left and right respectively1234561 to approximately 102000First plate to use tin instead of iron.1917Cream serial on dark blue flat metal plate; "MASS. 1917" centered at bottom123,4561 to approximately 127,0001918Dark blue serial on cream flat metal plate; "MASS. 1918" centered at bottom123,4561 to approximately 142,000123,4561919Cream serial on dark blue flat metal plate; "MASS. 1919" centered at bottom123,4561 to approximately 177,000Last plate to use tin.1920Embossed dark blue serial on white plate; "MASS. 1920" centered at bottom123,4561 to approximately 219,000First embossed plate.1921Embossed white serial on dark blue plate; "MASS. 1921" centered at bottom123,4561 to approximately 260,000123,4561922As 1920 base, but with "MASS. 1922" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 321,000123,4561923As 1921 base, but with "MASS. 1923" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 402,0001924Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "MASS. 1924" centered at bottom123,4561 to approximately 473,000123,4561925Embossed white serial on black plate; "MASS. — 1925" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 546,000123,4561926Embossed white serial on blue plate; "1926 — MASS" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 598,0001927Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "MASS — 1927" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 624,0001928Embossed white serial on green plate; "1928", cod fish graphic and "MASS" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 644,000Removed due to superstition cod fish facing away from "MASS" led to bad fishing harvest.1929Embossed white serial on blue plate; "MASS — 1929" at bottom and occasional cod graphic123,4561 to approximately 712,0001930Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "1930 — MASS" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 749,000123,4561931Embossed white serial on green plate; "MASS — 1931" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 792,000123,4561932As 1930 base, but with "1932 — MASS" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 740,000123,4561933As 1931 base, but with "MASS — 1933" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 759,000123,4561934As 1930 base, but with "MASS — 1934" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 749,0001935As 1931 base, but with "1935 — MASS" at bottom123,4561 to approximately 734,000123,4561936Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "MASS 36" centered at top123,4561 to approximately 729,000123,4561937Embossed white serial on green plate; "37 MASS" centered at top123,4561 to approximately 755,0001938Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "MASS 38" centered at bottom123·4561 to approximately 751·000123·4561939Embossed white serial on green plate; "39 MASS" centered at bottom123·4561 to approximately 771·0001940Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "MASS 40" centered at top123·4561 to approximately 779·0001941Embossed white serial on green plate; "41 MASS" centered at bottom123·4561 to approximately 852·0001942–44Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "MASS 42" centered at bottom123·4561 to approximately 828·000Revalidated for 1943and 1944 with wind-shield stickers, due to metal conservationfor World War II.123·456As above, but green rather than maroon828·001 to approximately 855·0001945Embossed white serial on dark blue plate; "45 MASS" at top123·4561 to approximately 799·0001946Embossed white serial on black plate; "46 MASS" at bottom123·4561 to approximately 843·0001947Embossed white serial on dark green plate; "MASS 47" within embossed white bar centered at top123·4561 to approximately 897·0001948Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "48 MASS" within embossed white bar centered at bottom123·4561 to approximately 948·000No image1949–50Embossed white serial on black plate; "49 MASS" within embossed white bar centered at top123·4561 to 999·999Revalidated for 1950with windshield sticker.A12·345K, H and J series1951–52Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "MASS 51" within embossed white bar centered at bottom123·4561 to 999·999Revalidated for 1952with windshield sticker.A12·345K, H, E and P series1953–54Embossed white serial on black plate; "MASS 53" within embossed white bar centered at top123·4561 to 999·999Revalidated for 1954with windshield sticker.A12·345K, H, E, P and L seriesNo image1955–56Embossed white serial on maroon plate; "55 MASS" within embossed white bar centered at bottom123·4561 to 999·999Revalidated for 1956with windshield sticker.A12·345K, H, E, P, L, N and X series1957–58Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "MASS 57" within embossed white bar centered at top123·4561 to 999·999First 6" x 12" plate. Revalidated for 1958with windshield sticker.A12·345K, H, E, P, L, N, X and U series1959–60Embossed white serial on maroon plate with border line; "59 MASS" within embossed white bar centered at top123·456A12·345Revalidated for 1960with windshield sticker.1961–62Embossed white serial on dark green plate with border line; "MASS 61" within embossed white bar centered at top123·456A12·345Revalidated for 1962with windshield sticker.1963Embossed white serial on black plate with border line; "63 MASS" within embossed white bar centered at top123·456A12·345Substandard paint used, plates needed refurbishing.1964–65Embossed white serial on maroon plate with border line; "MASS 64" within embossed white bar centered at top123·456A12·345Revalidated for 1965with windshield sticker.1966Embossed white serial on dark green plate with border line; "66 MASS" within embossed white bar centered at top123·456A12·345
1967 to present Massachusetts implemented a monthly staggered registration system in 1969. Since then, serials on passenger plates have been coded by the month of expiration of the registration, determined by the last number in the serial (1 for January, 2 for February and so on up to 0 for October). From 1969 through 1977, serials with 'X' suffixes were used for November and 'Y' suffixes for December expirations respectively. Registrants are issued plates expiring the last day of the previous month (e.g. a motorist registering a vehicle in June will be issued May plates). If a vehicle is registered in December or January (so that November and December plates would be called for), leftover plates are issued from other months with manufacturing overruns.
Two-year registrations are mandatory, with the exception of vehicles initially registered during December or January. Vanity plates and motorcycle plates must be renewed annually. All apportioned plate registrations expire on June 30, all trailer and "Spirit of America" vanity plate registrations expire on November 30, and all motorcycle, commercial, and single letter passenger reserved plate registrations expire on December 31.
Currently, the Livery plate is the only common license plate in Massachusetts that is allowed to have more than six characters in its serials. All Livery plate serials start with the letters "LV", even if not stamped.
Because the RMV utilizes "Plate Type" to describe the type of registration, it is theoretically possible to have two plates issued with seemingly the same serial. Some of the plate types, and their three-letter codes, are listed below:
PAN - Passenger: Normal PAR - Passenger: Reserved PAS - Passenger: Specialty (Antique, Veteran, Environmental, Sports, Spay & Neuter, Breast Cancer, United We Stand, etc.) PAV - Passenger: Vanity PAY - Passenger: Year of Manufacture (Antique plate with year stamped; AN gets added to the beginning of plate number on registration) CON - Commercial: Normal (plates starting SR are for snow removal; HR for Hearse) COR - Commercial: Reserved COV - Commercial: Vanity MCN - Motorcycle: Normal MCR - Motorcycle: Reserved MCS - Motorcycle: Specialty MCV - Motorcycle: Vanity AHN - Camper: Normal AHR - Camper: Reserved AHV - Camper: Vanity AMN - Ambulance: Normal (includes Animal Ambulance) AMR - Ambulance: Reserved LVN - Livery: Normal LVR - Livery: Reserved LVV - Livery: Vanity SPN - School Pupil: Normal TAN - Taxi: Normal TAR - Taxi: Reserved TRN - Trailer: Normal (not used on Camper trailers) TRR - Trailer: Reserved VPN - Van Pool: Normal SBN - School Bus: Normal SBR - School Bus: Reserved BUN - Bus: Normal BUR - Bus: Reserved BUV - Bus: Vanity