History
Before 1925 vehicle registration took place on a regional rather than on a country-wide basis. Vehicles displayed their registration numbers on the right-hand side of the vehicle, often painted on. From 1925, the authorities issued steel plates to vehicle-owners annually. This system changed when steel supplies became limited during World War II: from 1941 plates remained valid for 5 years.
The issue of permanent registration-plates started in 1964. These new plates had silver letters and numbers on black aluminium plates, and started with "AA100". The LLnnnn system started at this time. An example, a 1969 police car with an FB plate, can be viewed at MOTAT Auckland.
Reflectorised white plates with black characters replaced silver-on-black plates in November 1986, officially starting with "NA1", though an earlier limited trial run had taken place during the "MX1-MX999" run some weeks earlier.
The old silver-on-black plates remain valid and in use, though only on older vehicles. Vehicle-owners in New Zealand do not have to change registration plates when ownership of a vehicle changes, which means one can buy a pre-1987 used car which still has old silver-on-black plates on it. If old silver-on-black plates on a vehicle become irreparably damaged, the newer black-on-white plates may supplant them.
The font used remained the same during the change from silver-on-black plates to black-on-white plates. From "PC1Ø" onwards, zeroes have a slash through them (e.g. PP52Ø9, UO8ØØØ).
Plates used sans-serif lettering until the start of the letter codes beginning "DFN" (March 2006), since when plates have used a heavier, partially serifed font, squarer and thicker-lined. WhatTheFont does not recognise the new "based on a German design" style. The free font Licenz replicates the style and spacing of this design. The authorities introduced the new font in order to foil attempts to cut out letters and put them back in upside-down when forging license plates.
Read more about this topic: Vehicle Registration Plates Of New Zealand
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