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Automobile License Plate Collectors Association


The Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA) is the largest such organization in the world. Founded in Rumney Depot, New Hampshire, United States, in 1953 and holding its first meeting in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, in 1954, its members have come from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (often state subsidiaries exist as well) and twenty-four other countries, although the bulk of its members reside in the United States, followed by Canada, Germany, and Australia.

Despite the club's name, many members also collect and exchange license plates from vehicles other than automobiles.

ALPCA currently has approximately 3,200 registered members and 11,824 registered member numbers, although many of the earlier—and therefore lower-numbered—members are now deceased or are no longer members. When an individual joins, he or she is assigned a membership number, which started with #1 and are currently being issued in the 11,000 range. Members treasure their "ALPCA number" and often are known as much by the time period in which they joined than by name or geographic home. The club hosts an annual convention each June or July that attracts several hundred members, and regional meets take place in a number of countries throughout the year. The 2016 convention, open to members only, will be at Ft. Wayne, Indiana in July.

The most common goal of a license plate collector has been to put together a set of one expired license plate from each state of the United States. Many members collect one or more expired plate from each country of the world. Beyond that, many have the goal of building a "complete run," which consists of a set of a single or a pair (from the jurisdictions that issued them in pairs), for each year that a state issued them. Generally it is believed that Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Wisconsin were among the US states to first issue standardized plates., Many local jurisdictions required them before that, and there were a plethora of jurisdictions first issuing registration numbers in the early years, by way of a registration card or emblem, but leaving the actual creation of a plate up to the vehicle owner. The old cards, emblems, and discs are now, of course, also highly collectible. Early "pre-state" plates provide another area for collectors to explore. Much has been forgotten or never recorded about license plate registration systems, giving aficionados something else to gather research about as well.


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