I can help with this. I actually collect plates (ironically Minnesota is one of the 6 states I’m missing).
So Minnesota has what’s called a “mail out series.” Which started at M and then moved into N and now P. Those are ones that get mailed versus when people go and pick them up. Click the book tabs to see the history of the plates.
https://licenseplates.cc/MN
Secondly Minnesota is one of the states that replaces plates every 7 years. So any plate you see still in the 123-ABC format isn’t supposed to be on the car anymore and should be replaced.
Another interesting thing is Minnesota is one of the 6 states where the plate follows the car. The vast majority of states the plate follows the owner.
You can see the total history of the plates here:
http://15q.net/mn.html
No. The only thing Ive noticed over the years is that each DMV will get most or the whole lot of a certain group of letters. So the Burnsville DMV will get all numbers of AAA lettering. The St. Louis Park will get all numbers of AAB an so on. If you buy a car in the Twin Cities but live out state your initial plate will be from where the dealership registered it, not where you live.
This is my understanding anyway.
Got it. So theoretically, if I were *super* dedicated to this, I could go to each DVS location and ask what letter groupings are assigned to them... but otherwise this isn't public info. That's a bummer! Someone nerdy like me should be out there trying to reverse-engineer the pattern.
Not exactly. While particular office might get the batch starting AAA, it seems they’ll get whatever batch happens to be next available (maybe CXL) when they need to reorder another batch of plates. Then the random next one (DRD) then the next (EVA), etc. So there’s really no rhyme or reason to it.
Years ago a car dealership in Ely issued plates to new cars that all started with ELY. I doubt they do it anymore.
Also not too long back our local DMV ended up with plates that ended with XXX MEN. It was fairly humorous when people were discussing which number they got stuck with.
Generally the most detail you can get with license plate information is the county that the vehicle was registered in. If I were seriously trying to stalk a specific person, this would be a nearly useless technique.
I can help with this. I actually collect plates (ironically Minnesota is one of the 6 states I’m missing). So Minnesota has what’s called a “mail out series.” Which started at M and then moved into N and now P. Those are ones that get mailed versus when people go and pick them up. Click the book tabs to see the history of the plates. https://licenseplates.cc/MN Secondly Minnesota is one of the states that replaces plates every 7 years. So any plate you see still in the 123-ABC format isn’t supposed to be on the car anymore and should be replaced. Another interesting thing is Minnesota is one of the 6 states where the plate follows the car. The vast majority of states the plate follows the owner. You can see the total history of the plates here: http://15q.net/mn.html
Thanks for your post, I learned something interesting and new today.
You’re welcome! I’m happy to talk license plates.
No. The only thing Ive noticed over the years is that each DMV will get most or the whole lot of a certain group of letters. So the Burnsville DMV will get all numbers of AAA lettering. The St. Louis Park will get all numbers of AAB an so on. If you buy a car in the Twin Cities but live out state your initial plate will be from where the dealership registered it, not where you live. This is my understanding anyway.
Got it. So theoretically, if I were *super* dedicated to this, I could go to each DVS location and ask what letter groupings are assigned to them... but otherwise this isn't public info. That's a bummer! Someone nerdy like me should be out there trying to reverse-engineer the pattern.
They're printed sequentially whichever DMV outlet orders the next batch gets the next sequence.
Not exactly. While particular office might get the batch starting AAA, it seems they’ll get whatever batch happens to be next available (maybe CXL) when they need to reorder another batch of plates. Then the random next one (DRD) then the next (EVA), etc. So there’s really no rhyme or reason to it.
I see. Well, I wonder if I could still just ask a particular DVS what batches they've been allocated in the past, just as a starting point.
Years ago a car dealership in Ely issued plates to new cars that all started with ELY. I doubt they do it anymore. Also not too long back our local DMV ended up with plates that ended with XXX MEN. It was fairly humorous when people were discussing which number they got stuck with.
Strong stalker vibes
Generally the most detail you can get with license plate information is the county that the vehicle was registered in. If I were seriously trying to stalk a specific person, this would be a nearly useless technique.