There are five types of private registration plates available to buy, some with formats dating back to the early 1900's! Read on to find out more.
Cherished (dateless) - Dateless format registrations first appeared in 1903, and were assigned to new vehicles until 1963. Typically, the format of these registrations started with one, two or three characters, which were regional identifiers, which was followed by one, two, three or four digits. This layout was reversed in order to extend the lifespan of the dateless format.
Suffix - Suffix registrations appeared in 1963, following the discontinuation of the dateless format. Suffix style reg plates consist of three characters followed by a space, and then one, two or three digits, and then finally a character. For example, XYZ 321A is a suffix registration, with the final character being the age identifier. Any plate with ‘A’ as the final letter first appeared in 1963, with Y being the last letter used in 1982.
Prefix - Prefix registrations were introduced in 1983 and ran until 2001. In the case of prefix registration plates, the age identifier letter came first, followed by three numbers, a space and three letters. For example, A123 XYZ would be a prefix style registration, which could have first appeared in 1983. Similarly to suffix plates, the letter Y was the final one used in this type of registration in 2001.
Irish - First issued in 1903, Northern Irish registrations always contain a ‘Z’ or ‘I’, or sometimes both. Just like cherished registrations, Northern Irish plates do not have a specific year associated with them, which means they can be assigned to any age of vehicle.