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Aguascalientes undated passenger issue. Graphic issue from the state of Aguascalientes, featuring a mountainline at the bottom (common feature on these newer plates), sky at the top, government logo at the bottom left and state seal at the bottom right. This plate is one of a handful to feature a slogan, "Sociedad y Gobierno Unidos en el Cambio", or "Society and Goverment United in the Change." Aguascalientes released this plate late in the "first generation" timeframe, in 2000, and kept issuing it through 2004, skipping right to the third generation in 2005. |
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Aguascalientes undated passenger issue. Slightly modified version of the same plate as above, this one has the "AGS MEX" at the bottom outlined in white, as opposed to the one above which only had it in blue. The background of this plate is also slghtly darker in general. |
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Baja California 2002 passenger issue. Early graphic from Baja California. Baja California was one of the states to make only minor revisions to the previous 1992 federal issue when designing their first graphic plate. A small logo with a whale tail, mountain, cactus and sun was added to the bottom right, while a small rendition of the state seal was placed near the lower left. This is one of the few Mexican issues to use plate validation stickers, this one has been renewed through 2002. |
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Baja California Sur undated passenger issue. This issue was very similar to what Baja California (Norte) did with their first graphic. A logo was placed on this plate as well, featuring a happy whale, mountain and sun. They also placed the state logo on the left, but on the top. |
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Campeche undated passenger issue. Sparse graphic from Campeche featuring the government logo at the lower left and a Mayan jade mask at the lower right. Beneath the mask graphic is the slogan "El Tesoro Escondido de Mexico," or "The Hidden Treasure of Mexico." |
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Coahuila undated passenger issue. Coahuila was one of the states to opt for a design featuring the state seal in the center. At the bottom right is a logo and the slogan "Coahuila - Tierra de Opportunidades" or "Land of Opportunity." |
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Colima undated passenger issue. This is the current issue from Colima, one of a handful of states still using its first-generation graphic. This plate features a mountain in the background and treeline along the bottom. The state seal is shown at bottom left, with the "2000" date underneath. This may be the second Colima graphic issue, as a widely-circulated sample plate with a sailboat in the background exists, but I've yet to ever confirm one of those issues with an actual passenger serial. |
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Chiapas undated passenger issue. No-nonsense issue from Chiapas, with the entire state name embossed at the bottom and "Mexico" screened at the top. A graphic of a Mayan warrior is seen at the top left. |
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Chiapas undated passenger issue. Slightly revised Chiapas graphic, later plates were issued with these security bar codes at the left. These also carry a sticker with a three-digit number on it, signifying expiration month and year. I believe this "061" sticker indicates a June (06) 2001 (1) expiration. |
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Chihuahua undated passenger issue. Circa-1998 issue from "El Estado Grande," Chihuahua. Literally, "The Big State" - Chihuahua is the largest of the 31 Mexican states. The graphic contains another set of mountains, plus a group of running Raramuri natives. The state's coat of arms is featured bottom right, another common feature on these plates. |
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Distrito Federal 1999 passenger issue. Not really a "graphic," per se, DF plates of this time period were essentially just the old federal issues with the outside border removed. Earlier versions of this plate had an embossed "99" date in the corner, while later ones did not. The DF continues to use a unique 123-ABC passenger numbering format, as opposed to the ABC1234 format used by the rest of the jurisdictions. |
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Distrito Federal undated passenger issue. Circa-2000 plate with the embossed "99" removed from the corner. Some plates in this series were apparently manufactured with different, wider dies as well before the district switched to its "angel" graphic in 2001. |
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Distrito Federal undated passenger issue. Variant as mentioned before with the thicker serial dies. This version started in the mid "L" series and seems to have carried over until the new graphic issue started, in the late "L" series. |
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Durango undated passenger issue. This plate features the state name spelled out in full at the bottom, with a horse and rider to the left and the Durango City cathedral to the right. |
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Guanajuato undated passenger issue. I've always liked this issue a lot, it stands out quite a bit from the rest of the graphic plates. This issue has a green and blue background with white bead-reflective lettering. The state seal is seen on this plate as well, at the bottom left. Guanajuato, I believe, was the first state to break from the 1992 federal issue and issue its own unique graphic plate, releasing this issue in 1995. |
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Guerrero undated passenger issue. First graphic plate from Guerrero, they opted for the "state seal in the center" approach as well, which was taken by quite a few states with these plates. The seal makes it awfully difficult to see the center character on the plate, I'll say. These plates carried a vehicle class designation at the bottom, "Servicio Particular" indicating a private passenger vehicle. |
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Hidalgo undated passenger issue. Nice plate from Hidalgo, with the state shape to the left and the green and red bands of the state government logo (duplicated at the lower right) at the right. |
Jalisco did not issue a first-generation graphic, instead using the 1992 federal base until 2002. |
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Mexico undated passenger issue. This plate is from the state of Mexico and again features the state seal in the background. The logo of the Policia Estatal (State Police) is also included at the top left. A bar code is included at the top as well, duplicating the number and acting as a guard against counterfeit/stolen plates. |
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Michoacan undated passenger issue. Again, the state seal is used in the background, with a red band to the bottom featuring the state and country abbreviation. A logo featuring a butterfly and fish is located at the top left of this plate. This plate also features a bar code, but the number is not printed below this one. |
Morelos issued graphic plates for some classes of vehicles in 1998, but passenger vehicles do not seem to have been issued first-generation graphic plates. |
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Nayarit undated passenger issue. Simple graphic base from the state of Nayarit, with the image of the state shape and the state seal at the bottom corners. The plate is otherwise similar to the older federal issue. |
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Nuevo Leon undated passenger issue. This is the first graphic offering from Nuevo Leon, featuring a tan band at the bottom and a blue mountain in the background. The plate also has the state seal between the "NL" and the "MEX," and a graphic of some gears to the left of the state name. This apparently refers to the industrial manufacturing base within the state. These plates are also bar-coded with the plate number directly above the serial. |
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Oaxaca undated passenger issue. This is one of two revisions of Oaxaca's first-gen plate, with a stylized version of the state name at the top and wider dies used for the state abbreviation. Both versions feature the state shape at the bottom left and state seal at bottom right. |
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Oaxaca undated passenger issue. The other version of Oaxaca's first-generation graphic, this one features red, white and green bands at the top of the plate. This version also uses narrower dies for the state abbreviation at the bottom. |
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Puebla undated passenger issue. Another "State Seal" issue, this one from the state of Puebla. In addition to the seal, the plate has a mountainline at the bottom, hitting all the popular components at once. This is also one of a few graphic issues to carry an embossed state name. |
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Queretaro undated passenger issue. This plate features a graphic of the Queretaro Aqueduct, which was built in 1738 in order to transport water to the capital city of Queretaro. The state seal is featured as a smaller graphic to the lower right, and a flag logo with the slogan "Unidos por Queretaro" is found at lower left. The state and country names are embossed in full on this issue, after years of using the "QRO MEX" abbreviation on prior issues. |
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Quintana Roo undated passenger issue. Graphic plate from Quintana Roo, featuring the outline of the state's shape behind the serial. The state seal is seen at top left. There are at least three variations of this plate, with this undated version preceding the dated '98' versions shown next. |
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Quintana Roo 1998 passenger issue. Embossed-date version of the above plate. Plate also uses a slightly different font for the state abbreviation from the undated version above, plus drops the bar code found on the undated plate. |
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Quintana Roo 1998 passenger issue. Another dated variation of the Quintana Roo plate, this one features a narrower die for the date and a wider, bolder font for the state abbreviation. |
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San Luis Potosi undated passenger issue. Like the D.F., San Luis Potosi didn't stray too far into graphics territory for their 1998 issue, simply dropping the embossed border from the previous federal issue plate. |
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Sinaloa undated passenger issue. First-generation plate from Sinaloa, with the image of a crawfish, tomatoes and mangoes to signify the food production within the state. I honestly don't know what the red, blue and grey thing to the far left is. This was one of the few issues to retain the outside border, and in fact the border was removed on later issues. |
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Sonora undated passenger issue. This graphic from Sonora shows a native dancer doing a "deer dance" in a headdress fitted with antlers. Two different "Sonora" logos are found at the top and bottom left corners, with the lower one containing the slogan "El Estado Amigo," or "The Friendly State." Coincidentally, this slogan was rejected by Texas back in the early 1990s for their plates. |
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Tabasco undated passenger issue. This was the current Tabasco graphic until mid-2003. The background features the state shape in the national colors of red, white and green. "Mexico" is screened at the top of the plate. |
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Tamaulipas undated passenger issue. From Tamaulipas, in northern Mexico on the border with Texas. The graphic on this plate features a rock formation rising up from the desert on the horizon. This plate features the caption "Camino Nuevo," meaning (depending on the translation) "New Road," "New Path," or "New Way." I suspect this is more figurative than literal, sort of a "new road to the future" idea, although for all I know there might just be an actual new road in Tamaulipas that they're particularly proud of. Hey, if Michigan and Prince Edward Island can put their bridges on their plates, why not? |
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Tamaulipas undated passenger issue. Later variant of the plate above, with the "Camino Nuevo" removed. This particular plate seems to be an "end of roll" error, with a giant seam in the reflective material running across the center of the plate. |
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Tlaxcala undated passenger issue. The background of this plate shows the shillouette of La Malinche mountain. The state seal appears in the top left and "Mexico" is screened at the top. |
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Veracruz undated passenger issue. This plate features a red and green painted border, a small state seal, and a background graphic of what appears to be a woman and man. This design remained largely unchanged on their second-generation graphic plate. |
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Yucatan undated passenger issue. This was the current Yucatan issue until mid-2003, making it one of the last states to convert to a second-generation plate. This simple issue carries the state seal at the bottom left and an image of a pyramid at bottom right. |
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Zacatecas undated passenger issue. Graphic issue from Zacatecas, with the state name screened at the bottom and a light graphic of a hillside in the background. This is kind of an odd graphic, as it's very difficult to make out unless you're holding the plate in your hands. I thought it was a scratch at first, myself. |