RESERVED SERIES, SPECIAL NUMBERS & PERSONALIZED PLATES
Almost as long as general-issue plates have been issued in New York State, there has been a demand from motorists for registrations that set them apart from all other motorists. And just as long, the motor vehicle administrators, whether to curry favor and influence or out of the goodness of their hearts, have met this demand with special number plates. The form these plates take has varied significantly from era to era.
The road that leads to the "vanity" or "personalized" plate in New York has been gradual—unlike many states, where the distinction is often clear-cut and its introduction well documented. Along this road further distinctions have been drawn between classes or groups of individuals—whether by profession, association, or celebrity—and the individual motorist who seeks distinction. Even among distinctive groups, some have been singled out by the DMV for public safety reasons, while others are self-identified and are given distinctive plates for purely economic or political reasons.
Many of the specialty plates would be difficult to tell apart from their general issue passenger counterparts without being pointed out. With time some plate types have added captions, prefixes or other features that distinguish them from passenger plates. These plates are discussed at length in the non-passenger posts devoted to these types.
Because of the complexity of the story and the confusion that results, this topic is divided into three separate historical sections.
Low-Numbered Plates, 1910–1921
Between 1901 and 1910, a low-numbered plate indicated the owner was among the earliest (and most likely wealthiest) souls to embrace the motor car. This distinction was erased with the first reissue of 1910.

During the pre-county code era, from 1910 to 1924, when all-numeric and single letter-prefix plates were the norm, number plate distinction was achieved through low numbers and low letter-and-number combinations.

It was widely recognized that registrations under 1000 were issued to special individuals identified by and to the secretary of state. Few comprehensive registration lists from this era have survived. The registration book for 1914 bears out this distinction. According to The Official Automobile Directory of the State of New York, privately published in 1914, Sylvan Levy, of St. Marks Avenue, Brooklyn, owner of a taxicab company, received registration 1 for an Atlantic motor car.
*** [Find more truly notable registrants under 1000.]
The roster of luminaries whose cars sported numbers between 1000 and 2000 is a regular Who's Who of New York state movers and shakers. Department store magnate John Wanamaker had 1000, 1001 and 1002 registered in his name, as well as the less flashy 3537 (on his Packard) and 3538 (on a Ford).
Registrations between 1000 and 2999 were reserved for dealers from 1910 to 1913—even though these plates were also set apart by the prefix M. In 1914 the dealer segment was moved to 6000 to 7999, freeing up 4,000 new low numbers. In 1915 the dealer allotment reverted to the earlier sequence. As the need for dealer plates grew, so too the lowest general issued plate rose from 3000 to 7000 by 1917.
A Times article from 1916 sheds some additional light on the assignment of the 1,000 lowest-numbered plates. Under the headline "Whitman's Auto Is No. 1," the article begins with a lead paragraph on the issuance of plate number 1 to then Governor Charles S. Whitman. A selective list of other low-numbered registration holders, and those with repeating digits, followed (some of the affiliations were provided by the author):
1 Governor Whitman (Albany vehicle)
2 Governor Whitman (New York City vehicle)
3? Samuel Koenig, Chairman of the state Republican Party
11 Robert F. Wagner, Senate Minority Leader
13 Joseph De Bragga, Queens County Sheriff
23 George B. Agnew, "author of the anti-race track bills"
35–37 Charles E. Dillingham, theatrical manager
58 Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University
75 Harry N. Hempstead, President of the Giants Baseball Team
111 Robert I. Smythe
222 Oscar Tschirky, manager of the Waldorf-Astoria
229–230 George M. Cohan, Broadway producer
239–240 George C. Boldt, proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria
333 Louis B. Schran
444 Dr. G. Frank Sammis
555 William Frederick Stafford, banker and stock broker
666 Edwin M. Silverman
777 F.L.H. Ganss
792–805 C. K. G. Billings, industrialist
888 Edward B. Merritt, general manager of Luna Park (?)
999 Chester S. Lord, former managing editor of the New York Sun
While it would be difficult to prove, plates with all the same digit, such as 11111, were almost certainly issued to motorists of distinction.
A New York Times article from February 2, 1919, attests to the undiminished popularity of special registrations:
This year is no exception to the last two or three in an insistent demand for registration plates containing low numbers or numerals corresponding to house or business address, or to some event which stands forth prominently in the life of the motorist ....
Many persons ask for numbers which correspond with their home addresses, while others want automobile numbers corresponding with their telephone numerals. One man went so far as to ask for a number the same as the year when he secured his divorce, and it so happened that the number could be supplied.
The allocation of low-numbered plates continued unabated throughout the rest of the teens and into the twenties. The two-year experiement (1916-17) with regional plates numbering offered three distinct sets of low-numbered plates. (See below) The low-numbered cavalcade resumed in 1918 and continued through 1921.
Single-Letter Prefix Plates, 1913?–1921
The years 1913–1915 were the first to see prefix letters used to expand the number of available registrations. (The appearance of A-prefix plates in 1912 is still not adequately explained.) Even though this variety of special registration came about more by chance than by design—the all-numeric low-numbered plates were, after all, more highly prized—motorists soon seized the chance to acquire low-numbered plates in this sequence as special registrations.
It should come as no surprise to learn that for 1914 the Secretary of State sported A1 on the White automobile registered to the Secretary's New York City office on West 74th Street, Manhattan. Of all the possible low-numbered letter prefix registrations, oddly the 1914 Directory lists only the first 99 A prefixes, and only the first 94 C prefixes; it fails to list any B-prefix plates. C-prefix plates were issued to commercial vehicles, with the first listed as C01. While plates survive with prefixes as high as F, the corresponding registration information doesn't survive.
The creation of motor vehicle bureau offices in New York City and Buffalo in 1914 introduced a measure of local autonomy to issuing special registrations. Albany and New York shared all the all-numeric allotments; it is most likely that Albany alone controlled the distribution of plates up to 999 or 1000. Plates with a letter prefix were originally issued from Buffalo alone.
With the two-year experiment (1916-1917) in regional plate prefixes, low-numbered plates expanded threefold: 1 to 1000 from New York City; A1 to A1-000 from Albany; and B1 to B1-000 from Buffalo. During this two-year period low-numbered all-numeric plates indicated a local, New York origin.
The return of numbers-only standard registrations in 1918 severely reduced the choices for low-numbered registrations. In light of this, it seems likely that a new series, with a letter prefix and up to three digits, e.g., A123, was first issued. These plates mimic the low plates from 1913-1915 and the A- and B-prefix plates of 1916-1917, but may not have actually continued from that era. It seems almost certain that the low numbers with A- and B- prefixes issued in 1916-1917 were continued, however.
By 1921 the Times reports that "[t]he demand for such numbers led former Secretary of State Hugo to utilize practically every letter in the alphabet in attempting to accommodate those motorists who find a peculiar virtue in a low registration number."
A severe blow to the prestige-seeking motorist came with the distribution of the 1922 plates. From this date forward low-numbered registrations were no longer distributed to the general public, but instead to elected statewide and local officials in their official capacity. The alpha-numeric special registrations were discontinued outright. Among the factors reported in 1922 by the State Tax Commission for discontinuing the previous practices were the high cost of manufacture, the delays that such special production demands made of the prison manufacturing, and the difficulty of keeping track of requests which came from so many different motor vehicle bureaus.
This "period of darkness" without special registrations would last only until 1925, when the debut of the county code era spawned a host of new vanity opportunities.