Texas 1998 Base Plate
1998–2000Texas · base · “The Lone Star State”
The flag crosses to the right of the state name and the serial inverts, a letter now leading three digits rather than trailing them. Late in 1998 the sticker wells were dropped from the corners, Texas having moved its registration sticker to the windscreen. The plate shown is a reconstruction carrying an invented serial, so no real registration is depicted.
One plate, several years
This design served from 1998 to 2000 rather than for a single year. A plate that stays on a car across several registrations cannot date itself, so the year is proved separately, by a tab or sticker in the earlier period and by a windscreen sticker later. It is the opposite arrangement to the annual plates, where the plate WAS the registration.
Stamped, not printed
Every character here is pressed into the metal and stands proud of the surface, along with the raised rim just inside the edge. Run a hand across it and you feel the whole design. The plate was struck from flat stock in a press, then the raised faces were rolled with paint, which is why wear shows first on the tops of the characters.
Sources
Reference is a vector rendering of the design, not a photograph of an issued plate (CC BY-SA 4.0, Thegunkid). Issue period, serial format and the removal of the sticker wells (CC BY-SA).
- Issued
- Standard issue
- The plate you received by default when you registered a vehicle.
- Serial format
- A99-AAA
- Material
- Embossed aluminium with reflective sheeting
- Source license
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Reference
- View original