Automobile License Plate Collectors Association

The Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA) is the largest such organization in the world.^[1] Founded in Rumney Depot, New Hampshire, United States, in 1954 and holding its first meeting/convention in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, in 1955. It serves as a way for license plate collectors to trade plates, distribute news, and provide historic information to members.^[2]

Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, Inc. (ALPCA)

Company type	Membership driven
Industry	History, Research
Founded	December 22, 1954; 70 years ago (1954-12-22) in Rumney Depot, New Hampshire, U.S., incorporated December 1957
Founders	Dr. Cecil George, Asa P. Colby
Headquarters	United States of America
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Cyndi McCabe (President and Chairman of the Board)
Products	Memberships, magazine, archives, conventions, annual Best Plate Award
Revenue	242,446 United States dollar (2022)
Total assets	493,458 United States dollar (2022)
Website	Official website

Overview

ALPCA Souvenir license plate

ALPCA currently has approximately 3,900 registered members and over 14,000 registered member numbers,^[1] 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 in 1954, and are currently being issued in the 14000s. 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 states, provinces, and countries throughout the year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 convention, originally scheduled for Tulsa, Oklahoma from July 8–11, 2020, was cancelled. The next convention, open to members only, was scheduled for Covington, Kentucky, from August 4 to 7, 2021.^{[needs update][3][4]}

Members come from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, as well as nineteen countries. Most members reside in the United States, followed by Canada, Germany, and Australia. Members receive the bi-monthly full-color publication "Plates;" have full access to the organization's web-based license plate archives for every country around the world; access to back issues of all publications; and can attend both regional meets and the annual convention.^[5]

Despite the club's name, many members also collect and exchange license plates from vehicles other than automobiles. Antique vehicle, bus, camper, farm, military, motorcycle, trailer, and truck plates are just a few of the hundreds of other plate types that have been issued and are now collected by members.^[6][7]

Since 1972 ALPCA has annually presented a "Best Plate Award" to an American state or Canadian province.^[8] To better educate the public regarding genuine license plates the association provides a "Guide to Deceptive and Misleading Plates" for free on its website.^[9]

Many ALPCA members maintain their own interests and websites, sometimes overlapping, and sometimes going way beyond the confines of license plate collectors. A subset of them are "Extra-Miler Club" members, who seek to visit every county in the United States, often while picking antique shops and other venue for old tags. One member keeps track of the "highest numbers" issued in each state, and his website records what combinations are the latest to be issued.^[10]

ALPCA members often consult the media for stories on issues in automobilia.^[11][12][13]

Membership

The ALPCA has approximately 3,900 current members. Members choose whether their membership lasts one, two, three, four, or five years. Junior memberships, for those members less than 18 years of age, are also available. The organization's magazine, "Plates," is mailed to all members, and all members in good standing are entitled to vote for officers and the Best Plate Award. Members can research plates with the association's online archives which have been extensively expanded and updated in recent years. Members may also display the ALPCA logo (shield) for personal use.^[14]

Executive Board

The ALPCA is run by a seven member Executive Board composed of the President, Vice-President, and five Directors. All members serve two year terms. The President and three of the Directors terms expire in even numbered years, and the Vice-President and two Directors terms expire in odd numbered years. The Administrative Staff, composed of the Secretary, Treasurer, Plates Editor, Webmaster, Regional Meet Coordinator, Complaint Chairman, and Legal Counsel, are appointed by the Executive Board, Similarly, the Project Staff, consisting of the Convention Planner, Convention Administrator, Archivist, Hall of Fame Coordinator, and Best Plate Coordinator, are also appointed by the Executive Board. The President also serves as the Chairman of the Executive Board. Note that prior to the 1977 election of board members there were multiple other elected offices which are not shown here.^[15][16]

Executive Board Members

Position	Name	Location	Term Ending
President	Cyndi McCable	Elyria, OH	July 8. 2026
Vice-President	Dick Yourga	Amherst, MA	July 8, 2025
Director	John Northup	Logan, UT	July 8, 2026
Director	Bill Dickerson	Manchester, NH	July 8, 2025
Director	Joel Kimmet	Cincinnati, OH	July 8, 2025
Director	Mike Morgan	Esterno, FL	July 8, 2026
Director	Stephen Tuday	Woodstock, GA	July 8, 2026

List of ALPCA Presidents

The ALPCA presidents' term of office has changed two times. From 1955 until 1961 their term was two years, from 1961 until 2004 the term was one year, and since 2004 the term is once again two years. To simplify the following chart multiple terms served consecutively are combined in one row. The following list of ALPCA Presidents was compiled from the ALPCA Newsletter, ALPCA Register, and Plates Magazine.^[15]

List  of  ALPCA  Presidents

No.	Name	Dates	Terms	Notes
1	Dr. Cecil W. George	1955–1957	1	Member #1; Granted life membership in 1988[17]
2	Ralph Perkins	1957 – July 4, 1958	1	Resigned
3	Frank Spinney	July 5, 1958 – 1959	1	Appointed
4	Roy A. Carson	1959–1961	1
5	Asa P. Colby	1961–1962	1
6	Clarence Titus	1962–1963	1
7	Carl Sweiven	1963–1964	1
8	Harvey Parkes	1964–1966	2
9	Andrew Young	1966–1967	1
10	Ernie Wilson	1967–1968	1
11	Joe Oliver	1968–1969	1
12	Frank German	1969–1972	3
13	Paul M. Maginnity	1972–1973	1
14	Willie Stahl	1973–1974	1
15	Earl Jenson	1974–1975	1
16	Edward Dietz	1975–1976	1
17	Dick Pack	1976–1977	1
18	Arthur D. Currie	1977–1979	2
19	James A. Crilly	1979–1981	2
20	Robert M. Crisler	1981–1983	2
21	James K. Fox	1983–1985	2
22	Robert M. Crisler	1985–1987	2
23	Jeffrey C. Minard	1987–1989	2
24	James A. Crilly	1989–1991	2
25	Michael C. Wiener	1991–1993	2
26	James K. Fox	1993–1995	2
27	Dale W. Blewett	1995–1997	2
28	Richard Yourga	1997–2000	3
29	Barney Schukraft	2000–2001	1
30	Michael R. Naughton	2001–2006	4	Three single year terms and one two year term.
31	Jeff Francis	2006–2010	2
32	Michael Liscio	2010 – May 30, 2011	1	Resigned
33	Stephen Tuday	June 1, 2011 – July 2011	1	Resigned
34	Greg Gibson	July 2011 – 2016	3
35	Cyndi McCabe	2016 –	5

Events

International conventions

The ALPCA has held annual conventions since 1955. The four earliest conventions were held at the host members' home. Since 1959 the annual conventions have been held in a larger private or public venue, and those held since 1984 have been at a convention center or other similarly large public venue. Conventions include three days of selling and trading of plates on the convention floor, an auction of license plates donated by members and individual states' department of motor vehicles, member displays that are judged and presented awards in many categories, committee and membership meetings, and social activities. Newly elected Executive Board members are installed just prior to the convention start. Conventions are only open to members and their guests.^[18]

List  of  ALPCA  International  Conventions

No.	Year	Venue	Location
1	1955	Property of Cecil George	No. Attleboro, MA[18]
2	1956	Property of Cecil George	No. Attleboro, MA[18]
3	1957	Property of Robert Oliver	Setauket, NY
4	1958	Property of Frank Spinney	Bristol, NH[19]
5	1959	Yorklyn Gun Club	Yorklyn, DE
6	1960	Odd Fellows Hall	Adamsburg, PA
7	1961	Giroux Motor Company	Phillipsburg, NJ[20]
8	1962	American Legion Hall	North East, MD
9	1963	American Legion Hall	Canastota, NY
10	1964	Grange Hall, Hancock County Fair Grounds	Findlay, OH[21][22]
11	1965	Natural Bridge Hotel	Natural Bridge, VA[23][24]
12	1966	Campus Center, Otterbein College	Westerville, OH[24]
13	1967	Franklin County Fair Grounds	Greenfield, MA[25]
14	1968	Merchants Building, Hancock County Fair Grounds	Findlay, OH[26]
15	1969	Memorial Gymnasium, Juniata College	Huntingdon, PA[27]
16	1970	Kane County Fairgrounds	St. Charles, IL
17	1971	Youth Center, Ohio State Fairgrounds	Columbus, OH
18	1972	Utah National Guard Armory	Salt Lake City, UT
19	1973	Lakeside Gardens, Britannia Park	Ottawa, ONT, CAN[28]
20	1974	Hoover Community Building, Garfield Fair Grounds	Enid, OK[29]
21	1975	Acadia Community Hall	Calgary, ALB, CA[30]
22	1976	Juniata College	Huntingdon, PA
23	1977	Salem Community High School	Salem, IL
24	1978	Lehigh Resort Motel	Lehigh Acres, FL
25	1979	Lakeland Community College	Mentor, OH
26	1980	Oklahoma State Fairgounds	Oklahoma City, OK[31]
27	1981	Central Cabarrus High School	Concord, NC
28	1982	Lake Michigan College	Benton Harbor, MI
29	1983	Dulaney Senior High School	Timonium, MD[32]
30	1984	Rushmore Plaza Civic Center	Rapid City, SD
31	1985	Asheville Civic Center	Ashville, NC[33]
32	1986	Springfield Convention Center	Springfield, IL[33]
33	1987	Abuquerque Convention Center	Albuquerque, NM
34	1988	Arthur Ashe Center	Richmond, VA
35	1989	Riverside Convention Center	Rochester, NY
36	1990	Rapid City Convention Center	Rapid City, SD
37	1991	Kansas City Market Center	Kansas City, MO
38	1992	Peoria Civic Center	Peoria, IL
39	1993	Hammons Trade Center, Aurora	Denver, CO[34]
40	1994	Chattanooga/Hamilton County Conv. & Trade Ctr.	Chattanooga, TN
41	1995	Sea Gate Convention Centre	Toledo, OH
42	1996	Peoria Civic Center	Peoria, IL
43	1997	Tucson Convention Center	Tucson, AZ
44	1998	Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center	Niagara Falls, NY
45	1999	Chattanooga/Hamilton County Conv. & Trade Ctr.	Chattanooga, TN
46	2000	Hammons Trade Center, Aurora	Denver, CO
47	2001	Peoria Civic Center	Peoria, IL
48	2002	Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center	Niagara Falls, NY
49	2003	Tucson Convention Center	Tucson, AZ
50	2004	Rhode Island Convention Center	Providence, RI
51	2005	Sioux Falls Convention Center	Sioux Falls, SD
52	2006	Ontario Convention Center	Ontario, CA
53	2007	Von Braun Center	Huntsville, AL
54	2008	Salt Palace Convention Center	Salt Lake City, UT
55	2009	Bayfront Convention Center	Erie, PA
56	2010	Arlington Convention Center	Arlington, TX
57	2011	Charleston Convention Center	Charleston, WV[35]
58	2012	Iowa Events Center	Des Moines, IA
59	2013	Grand Sierra Resort	Reno, NV
60	2014	Rochester Riverside Convention Center	Rochester, NY
61	2015	Northwest Arkansas Embassy Suites	Rogers, AR
62	2016	Grand Wayne Convention Center	Fort Wayne, IN[36]
63	2017	Ontario Convention Center	Ontario, CA
64	2018	Valley Forge Casino Resort	Valley Forge, PA
65	2019	Knoxville Convention Center	Knoxville, TN
----	2020	Cox Business Center	Tulsa, OK (cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)[37]
66	2021	Northern Kentucky Convention Center	Covington, KY[38]
67	2022	Hampton Roads Convention Center	Hampton, VA
68	2023	Crowne Plaza Denver Airport Convention Center	Denver, CO
69	2024	Lansing Convention Center	Lansing, MI
70	2025	Cox Business Center	Tulsa, OK

Regional meets

Regional meets provide the opportunity for members to sell, trade, or barter plates with other members between annual conventions. The dates for officially sanctioned meets are published in the organization's magazine "Plates." These meets often include auctions, regional meetings, awards, and a social event such as a lunch meal. Like the annual conventions, regional meets are only open to members and invited guests. The number of regional meets varies each year, but recent years have seen 15 – 25 regional meetings. Some regional groups hold a single meeting, while others may host quarterly meetings. A list of upcoming regional meetings is also maintained at the ALPCA website.^[39][40]

Independent meets

Although these meets are not sponsored by ALPCA they provide some of the same collecting opportunities that the ALPCA annual convention and officially sanctioned regional meets provide. The independent meets also allow the general public a way to meet ALPCA members, help members learn about plates by talking to sellers, and begin or add to their collections of license plates. A list of upcoming independent meetings is maintained at the ALPCA website.^[41]

Publications

From its inception ALPCA has distributed a publication to all active members. Unofficially, the primary publication was titled the ALPCA Newsletter, but it was many years before this was formalized. The name first appeared on the masthead in April 1972, but the name had appeared in the newsletter itself many times before this date. The ALPCA Newsletter changed names in February 2000 to the ALPCA Register, and since December 2004 has been known as Plates Magazine or informally as Plates. Back issues of these publications are available to active members on the association's website.^[42][43][44]

Plates Magazine

Plates Magazine is full color and regularly features articles relating the history of a topic, such as an individual state, province, or country's plates; provides information about newly issued plate; convention, regional, and independent meet details; photo histories of plates and related ephemera, such as validation stickers or tabs; topical histories such as motorcycle, special event, ham radio, personalized plates; articles on individual collectors or collections; annual base plate information for North American jurisdictions; etc.^{[45][46][47][48]}

Archives

The online archives provide members an extensive research tool for information regarding the year a license plate was issued, serial numbers issued, colors, dates issued, slogans, plate material, and other plate characteristics. Originally relatively static, the archives have been greatly expanded, become an online database that is much easier to search, sort, and provides much improved photos over the original archives.^[49]

Book

For the 50th anniversary of ALPCA two members wrote a book detailing the associations history. This publication, "A Moving History, 50 Years Of ALPCA, 100 Years of License Plates" was written by Jeff Minard & Tim Stentiford, and published by Turner Communications. In addition to the ALPCA history the book details 100 years of license plate history, and over 275 profiles of a cross section of ALPCA members.^[50][51]

Best Plate Award

Since 1972 members have voted each year to name one United States or Canadian license plate design, and in some years two such designs, introduced during the previous year as the "Best Plate."^[52] The first award went to Pennsylvania for their early Bicentennial plate which featured the Liberty Bell in the center.^[52] The award to the 1970 Northwest Territories for their polar bear-shaped license plate was made by Executive Board action between December 1973 and February 1974.^[53]

Members votes are based on both the plate's legibility and its aesthetics. For 1995, 1997, and 1998, the club recognized one standard-issue plate and one optional-issue plate, while in 1985 and 1989, two jurisdictions' designs tied for first place.^[8] The presentation of the award each year is usually covered by media outlets in the state that wins the award.^[54][55] For the 2015 award, Alaska declined a presentation ceremony due to issues over the use of a copyrighted image (the standing bear) without permission from the artist. For 2019 Oregan requested there be no ceremony due to the Covid pandemic.

ALPCA  Best  Plate  Award  Winners

Image	Year	Jurisdiction	Times won	Design	Type
	1970	Northwest Territories	1	Centennial	general
	1971	Pennsylvania	1	Bicentennial State	general
	1972	Wyoming	1	Bucking Bronco	general
	1973	Prince Edward Island	1	The Place To Be ... In 73	general
	1974	South Dakota	1	Mount Rushmore	general
	1975	Colorado	1	Centennial	general
	1976	Michigan	1	Bicentennial[56]	general
	1977	Mississippi	1	The Hospitality State	general
	1978	Wyoming	2	Wooden Fence	general
	1979	Indiana	1	1779 George Rogers Clark	general
	1980	Kansas	1	Wheat	general
	1981	South Dakota	2	Mount Rushmore	general
	1982	North Carolina	1	First in Flight	general
	1983	California	1	The Golden State	optional
	1984	Maryland	1	350th Anniversary[32]	optional
	1985	Nevada	1	Bighorn Sheep	general
		North Dakota	1	Theodore Roosevelt	general
	1986	Utah	1	Greatest Snow on Earth	general
	1987	Idaho	1	Centennial	optional
	1988	Oregon	1	Fir tree	general
	1989	Nova Scotia	1	Canada's Ocean Playground	general
		Oklahoma	1	Osage Battleshield	general
	1990	South Carolina	1	Wren[57]	general
	1991	Idaho	2	Famous Potatoes[58]	general
	1992	Mississippi	2	Blue Gradient	general
	1993	North Dakota	2	Discover the Spirit	general
	1994	Kansas	2	Wheat[59]	general
	1995	Texas	1	150 Years of Statehood[60]	general
		Pennsylvania	2	Flagship Niagara	optional
	1996	Arizona	1	Grand Canyon State	general
	1997	Manitoba	1	Friendly	general
		Wisconsin	1	Sesquicentennial	optional
	1998	Alaska	1	Gold Rush Centennial	general
		Idaho	3	Wildlife—elk	optional
	1999	Virginia	1	George Washington Bicentennial	optional
	2000	Wyoming	3	Devils Tower	general
	2001	Arkansas	1	Game and Fish — Hummingbird	optional
	2002	Oregon	2	Crater Lake Centennial	optional
	2003	Kentucky	1	It's That Friendly[61]	general
	2004	Oklahoma	2	State Parks — Pavilion	optional
	2005	Kansas	3	Home on the Range	optional
	2006	South Dakota	3	Great Faces. Great Places.	general
	2007	Mississippi	3	Biloxi Light	general
	2008	Delaware	1	Centennial Plate 1909–2009[62][63]	optional
	2009	Oklahoma	3	Sacred Rain Arrow[64][65]	general
	2010	New Mexico	1	Centennial 1912–2012[66][67]	general
	2011	Arizona	2	1912 Centennial 2012[68][69]	optional
	2012	Nebraska	1	Union Pacific Railroad Museum[70][71]	optional
	2013	Michigan	2	The Mackinac Bridge[72][73]	optional
	2014	Alberta	1	Support Our Troops[74]	optional
	2015	Alaska	2	Grizzly bear[75][76]	general
	2016	Arizona	3	Historic Route 66[77][78]	optional
	2017	New Mexico	2	Chile Capital of the World[79]	general
	2018	Maryland	2	Protect The Chesapeake	optional
	2019	Oregon	3	Smokey Bear	optional
	2020	Oklahoma	4	Save the Monarchs	optional
	2021	Delaware	2	Support Pollinators	optional
	2022	Hawaii	1	Polynesian Voyaging Society	optional
	2023	New York	1	Long Island	optional

Hall of Fame

The ALPCA Hall of Fame was approved by the Board of Directors in 2002, but it did not officially induct any members until 2004. "The goal of the Hall of Fame is [to] provide a vehicle to learn about our founding fathers and the legacy of leaders throughout the years who have embodied the fraternal spirit of our hobby."^[80]

"To be considered for the Hall of Fame, candidates must have served the club or hobby unselfishly for the good of all without concern for praise, compensation, or reward; promoted membership; provided guidance to fellow members; and taught others the value of collecting."^[80] Any member in good standing may nominate any ALPCA member for induction into the hall that they feel is deserving of the honor. The Hall of Fame Committee reviews all initial nominations, and the past presidents of the association vote to determine who on the list would be inducted in the Hall of Fame.^[80]

Hall of Fame Members:

• 2004
  • Roy Carson
  • Asa Colby
  • Cecil George
• 2005
  • Conrad Hughson
  • Gary Brent Kinkade
  • Don Merrill
• 2006
  • James A. Crilly
  • Dr. Roy Kotz, Jr.
  • Paul Maginnity
• 2007
  • Rich Dragon
  • Jeff Minard
  • G. B. Moore
• 2008
  • Bob Crisler
• 2009
  • Earl Jenson
  • Robert Ward
  • Verdon Rustine
• 2010
  • James Fox
  • Keith Marvin
  • Richard Yourga
• 2011
  • Roger Haynes
  • Stephen Raiche
• 2012
  • Ned Flynn
  • Jim Finley
• 2013
  • Corb Moister
  • George Sammeth
  • Rick Schofield
• 2014
  • Chuck Sakryd
  • Ted Cline
  • Marty Mozille
• 2015
  • Mick Naughton
  • Dick Pack
• 2016
  • Eric Tanner
• 2017
  • Tom Boyd
  • Leo Good
  • Dave Kuehn
• 2018
  • John Boal
• 2019
  • Neil Parker
  • Jeff Francis
• 2020
  • Roy Rich
  • Jim Graves
• 2021
  • Gene Hauman
  • Greg Gibson
• 2022
  • Norm Radcliffe
• 2023
  • Scott Mitchell
  • Clark Wothe
• 2024
  • Dale Blewett
  • Dave Steckley

Notable members

• Robert M. "Bob" Crisler, of Lafayette, Louisiana, served as an officer of ALPCA and was inducted as one of the first members of its Hall of Fame. He is a retired geography professor from the University of Louisiana, and authored "License Plate Values," the first collector price guide in the hobby.^[81]
• Jim Fox, drummer of the James Gang; served as an officer of the ALPCA and authored one of the most prominent published works within the hobby, License Plates of the United States.
• Ernest R. Hemmings, of Quincy, Illinois, the founder of Hemmings Motor News.
• Keith Marvin, of Menands, New York, wrote three books about license plates and seven books total. He wrote over 3,000 articles on automotive history, and his work appeared in more than 70 different publications.
• Doug DeMuro, a YouTuber, automotive journalist, and businessmen whose collection of low-numbered plates, including many political plates, serves as a backdrop for videos filmed in his garage.^[82]
• Augustus C. "Gus" Oliver, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, served as an officer of ALPCA, as the Best Plate Award Coordinator, authored the "License Plate Value Guide" in 2016 to continue the work that Bob Crisler and his son, Chuck Crisler, had begun, authored "Oklahoma License Plate History" as well as several articles for Plates Magazine.^[83]

See also

• License plate collecting