New Jersey License Plates 1926-1938

Passenger Plates
1926 - 1938

COUNTY CODES
County codes were added to New Jersey passenger plates in 1926.
They now used an A0000 or A00000 format where the first letter is the county code - all counties started at number 1001.
The letter represented the county for passenger plates:

A = Atlantic	H = Hudson	L = Mercer	P = Passaic	U = Union
B = Bergen	I = Somerset	M = Monmouth	Q = Ocean (1926)	V = Morris
C = Camden	J = Hunterdon	N = Burlington	R = Sussex	W = Warren
E = Essex	K = Middlesex	O/N = Ocean (1927-)	S = Salem	Y = Cumberland
F = Cape May				Z = Gloucester

Essex County reached E99999 very early on, so they used E in the second position.
1E was used in 1926. Numbers reached 2E in 1927, 3E in 1928, 5E in 1929, and 6E in 1930.
In 1927, the prefix for Ocean county changed from Q to a stacked O/N.
In 1931, the Essex county prefix became stacked, like this:

Only 1/E was needed after 1931.
In 1938, Bergen County reched B99999 and used a stacked 1/B like this:

Some counties (F=Cape May, I=Somerset, J=Hunterdon, S=Salem, W=Warren) used a dash separator between the county code and the serial number from 1927 forward.
It appears that Somerset County (I prefix) was the only county to use the dash in 1926.

Plates up to 1937 were used from January 1 to December 31.
The 1938 plates were used from January 1 1938 to April 31 1939. This started the transition to the new registration year.

1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | A to Z Prefixes

1926Somerset county (I prefix) was the only one to use the dash this year.

Bergen

BergenDave Zullo

Camden

Essex

Somerset

Hunterdon

Middlesex

Mercer

Monmouth

Passaic

Ocean

Sussex

SalemJack Hollingsworth

UnionDave Zullo

Morris

WarrenJack Hollingsworth

Starting in 1927, serifs were used on the letters - this slight die modification made the plates more readable.
(You could finally tell a "number one" from a "letter I")

1927Other counties started with the dash, and Q for Ocean became O/N.

BergenDave Zullo

Essex

Essex

Hunterdon

Somerset

Mercer

Ocean

Union

Morris

Warren

Cumberland

Gloucester

1928Warren County plates over W-9999 were made longer

BergenDave Zullo

Camden

Essex

Essex

Essex

Cape MayREPAINT

Somerset

Hunterdon

Mercer

Monmouth

Union

Warren

Warren (long)

Gloucester

1929Somerset County was able to fit the I prefix, a dash, and 5 numbers on a regular sized plate.

Atlantic

Bergen

Camden

Essex

Essex

Hudson

Somerset

Somerset5-digit

Hunterdon

Mercer

Monmouth

Passaic

Morris

Warren

Warren (long)

Cumberland

1930Essex County made it up to the 6E series this year.

Bergen

Bergen

Camden

Essex

Cape May

Hudson

Hunterdon

Mercer

Ocean

Passaic

Sussex

Warren

Gloucester

19311/E plates started for Essex County.

Atlantic

BergenDave Zullo

Camden

Camden

Essex

Essex

Somerset

Hunterdon

Middlesex

MercerRepaint

Union

Morris

Warren

Cumberland

1932

Atlantic

Bergen

Camden

Essex

Essex

Cape May

Somerset

Somerset

Hunterdon

Middlesex

Mercer

Monmouth

Burlington

Ocean

Passaic

Sussex

Warren

Cumberland

Gloucester

1933Warren County figured out how to use a regular-length plate for numbers over W-9999.

Bergen

Essex

Essex

Cape May

Somerset

Hunterdon

Middlesex

Monmouth

Ocean

Passaic

SalemTom Jansen

Morris

Warren

Warren

Cumberland

Gloucester

1934

Atlantic

BergenDave Zullo

BergenDave Zullo

Camden

Essex

Essex

Essex

Cape May

Hudson

Somerset

Middlesex

Monmouth

Ocean

Salem

Morris

Warren

WarrenJack Hollingsworth

Cumberland

1935

Bergen

Camden

Essex

Essex

Hudson

Somerset

Middlesex

Mercer

Monmouth

Ocean

Salem

Union

Warren

Warren

CumberlandTom Jansen

Gloucester

1936

Atlantic

Bergen

Camden

Essex

Hudson

Somerset

Hunterdon

Middlesex

Mercer

Monmouth

Monmouth

Burlington

Ocean

Passaic

Salem

Warren

Warren

Cumbreland

Gloucester

1937First year Ocean County plates seen over 9999.

Atlantic

Bergen

Camden

Essex

Essex

Hudson

Somerset

Middlesex

Mercer

Monmouth

Ocean

Ocean5-digit

Passaic

Salem

Warren

Cumbreland

Gloucester

1938First 1/B plates appeared for Bergen County. Hunterdon County (J) goes over 9999.

BergenDave Zullo

Bergen

BergenHighest 1/B known

Camden

Essex

Essex

Mercer

Somerset

Hunterdon

Middlesex

Monmouth

Ocean

Passaic

Union

Morris

Warren

Cumberland

ALL 26 LETTER PREFIXES - A to Z (and "4")(21 Counties + Non Passenger Plates)

A = Atlantic County

B = Bergen County

C = Camden County

D = Dealer

E = Essex County

F = Cape May County

G = Government

H = Hudson County

I = Somerset County

J = Hunterdon County

K = Middlesex County

L = Mercer County

M = Monmouth County

N = Burlington County

On = Ocean County

P = Passaic County

Q = Ocean County

R = Sussex County

S = Salem County

T = Trailer

U = Union County

V = Morris County

W = Warren County

X = Commercial

Y = Cumberland County

Z = Gloucester County

4 = Out of State