Michigan Mackinac Bridge Plate
2014–presentMichigan · current · “The Mackinac Bridge”
The bridge is the state's hinge. Until it opened in 1957 the Upper and Lower Peninsulas were joined only by ferry, and Michigan functioned as two places; five miles of suspension span made it one. The plate shows the towers at sunrise over the Straits of Mackinac, and is offered beside the other standard bases at the same fee. The plate shown is a reconstruction carrying an invented serial, so no real registration is depicted.
Still on the road
This is a current issue, first seen in 2014 and still being handed out. Nothing about it is settled history: the serial sequence is still advancing, and the design will only stop where the state decides to replace it.
Half stamped, half printed
Run a thumb across this plate and only the serial answers. The registration is still pressed into the metal the old way, while the state name, the slogan and any artwork are printed flat onto the reflective sheeting around it. Most plates issued in America today are made like this: the part that must be legible at speed and survive a decade of weather is stamped, and the part that carries the state's personality is printed, because printing can do colour and detail that a press cannot.
Sources
Reference photograph of an issued plate from a collector listing (All rights reserved, cited not reproduced). Issue date and serial format (CC BY-SA).
- Issued
- Standard issue
- The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
- Serial format
- AAA 999
- Material
- Aluminium: stamped serial on screened reflective sheeting
- Source license
- All rights reserved, cited not reproduced
- Reference
- View original