Mississippi

Mississippi 1969 passenger issue. Mississippi plates have carried an embossed county name since the exp. 1941 issue. From 1962 through 73, the plates also started with a county code number, assigned alphabetically. This plate was from Jefferson county, #32. All Mississippi plates of this era expired in October. Early 1969 plates were made using the same die set that had been used on the state's plates since at least 1965, however, a die change came about shortly thereafter (see next).

Mississippi 1969 passenger issue. This revised die set was introduced shortly into the production run of the state's 1969 plates. The new die set used narrower characters and a letter die that was shorter than the number die, as seen by the short "D" character on this plate. This die set would become the far more common type for 1969. This plate was issued in Adams county, first alphabetically, hence the "1" county code.

Mississippi 1970 passenger issue. Colors changed to blue on white for this year. This plate was from Jefferson county, number 32 alphabetically. The alpha character on the plate was a weight code, with passenger plates issued letter codes as follows: A = 1800 lbs or less, B = 1801-3000 lbs, C = 3001 to 4000 lbs, D = over 4000 lbs. These codes were first used in 1962 and ran through 1976.

Mississippi 1971 passenger issue. Green on white non-reflective issue. This plate was issued in Alcorn county, code #2, weight class "C".

Mississippi 1972 passenger issue. This issue was the first fully-reflectorized Mississippi plate. It was from Coahoma county, number 14 and another weight class "C" vehicle (3001-4000 lbs).

Mississippi 1973 passenger issue. This was the last year for the numerical county code prefixes on plates. This one is also from Alcorn county, number 2, also class C.

Mississippi 1974 passenger issue. This was the first year of three alpha-three numeric Mississippi plates. Blocks of letters were given to counties and were shifted from year to year to avoid duplication. This plate was from Jones county. Weight codes were continued on this base, with the first letter on a passenger plate (A through D, as noted on the 1970 plate above) indicating vehicle weight with the other two letters as serial.

Mississippi 1974 passenger issue. In order to avoid running out of available combinations, the five largest counties in the state were issued passenger plates in this reversed 123-ABC format. These were issued in Hinds, Harrison, Jackson, Washington, and Lauderdale counties. This practice was continued in 1975 and 1976 as well, before the elimination of weight coding made it unnecessary.

Mississippi 1975 passenger issue. This plate was from Coahoma county and was from weight class A, the lightest class.

Mississippi 1975 passenger issue. Reverse-format plate from Hinds county. Again these reverse-format plates were issued in the five largest counties to assure that the state didn't run out of letters in the ABC-123 format.

Mississippi 1976 passenger issue. This was the last of the yearly plates for Mississippi, and was issued in Montgomery county. Some larger counties issued passenger plates in a reversed 123-ABC format this year as well when their allocation of ABC-123 format plates ran out. This was the last year for weight code letters in Mississippi.

Mississippi 1976 passenger issue. The last of the reverse-format plates from the five largest counties, as this practice was made unnecessary when weight codes were eliminated on the next base.

Mississippi 1978 passenger issue. This "Magnolia" baseplate was introduced in 1977 and was the first for the state to carry a graphic or slogan. It was also the first multi-year issue for the state since 1918. This plate is also from Alcorn county. This plate won ALPCA's Plate of the Year award in 1977.

Mississippi 1980 passenger issue. Some plates on the 1977 Magnolia base were produced using a much darker green color for the flower and slogan at the center of the plate. These seem to have been produced later in the run of these plates (most carrying 1980 or 1981 expirations) and were probably due to a variation in the production of the plate blanks, not an intentional design change. This plate was issued in Carroll county.

Mississippi 1982 passenger issue. Near the end of 1981, Mississippi ran out of sheeting for the 1977 Magnolia base. Since a new base was slated to be released in October, 1981, the state opted not to order more of the old sheeting and instead issued a small number of all-embossed non-graphic passenger plates in the counties that ran short of stock. Initial plates of this type used the narrow dies from the 1977 base, while later ones used the wider ones introduced for the 1982 base (see next.) These plates are exceedingly uncommon and among the top of the list for modern rarities.

Mississippi 1982 passenger issue. This "Curly S" base was used from 1982 through 1993, sticking with the ABC-123 format and using new larger dies for the serial. This plate was issued in Alcorn county, which was issuing plates in the "AHx" block of letters at the time. This plate is sort of an oddball in that the "A" dies are from the previous, narrower die set, while the rest of the dies are from the wider one introduced for this base.

Mississippi 1989 passenger issue. Starting in October 1987, all original 1982-base plates were replaced with this issue, which was identical to the last plate aside from the introduction of a seven-digit serial format. The first digit on the plate was a class code, with "1" indicating passenger. The rest of the serial again used blocks of letters assigned to individual counties, this plate being issued in Madison county. The older Mississippi dies were brought back to facilitate the use of a seven-digit plate.

Mississippi 1993 passenger issue. This "Baby Blue" base was first issued in 1992 and used through 1998. This plate was from Chickasaw county. It won the ALPCA Plate of the Year award in 1992.

Mississippi 1996 passenger issue. Continuation of the blue base. In 1995, plate production was shifted from Columbus Marble Works, a Mississippi-based company which had made Mississippi plates for decades, to the Waldale Company in Nova Scotia, who did a pretty fair job of matching the standard Mississippi dies. Waldale has since used these dies on current Prince Edward Island issues as well. The Waldale-made Mississippi plates are squarer at the edges and stamped more crisply than the Columbus plates and are pretty easy to tell apart.

Mississippi 1999 passenger issue. In 1998, this plate was issued to replace the previous blue based plates. This design returned the magnolia to the center of the plate and features fading green and yellow colors on either side of the flower. These plates are again manufactured by Waldale using standard Mississippi dies. Embossed county names continue on this base, with this plate having been issued in Yazoo county. As in "Boy, the guy who sold me this plate had Mississippi plates out the Yazoo!" Sorry... These plates were issued through late 2002.

Mississippi 2003 passenger issue. In 2002, the contract to produce Mississippi plates shifted from Waldale in Nova Scotia over to Irwin-Hodson in Oregon. The plate's appearance remained largely the same, with the only notable difference being the narrow dies used for the county name on the Irwin-Hodson plates. I believe this was done to standardize the die set between the counties with longer names and those with shorter names. The state must not have approved, however - see next.

Mississippi 2003 passenger issue. Another Irwin-Hodson produced plate. Shortly after the narrow-die county names started to appear, they were discontinued. The large-size dies returned within a couple months, presumably due to displeasure over the appearance of the narrow ones.

Mississippi 2003 passenger issue. This design was introduced in late 2002 and replaced all previous plates by the end of 2003. The plate retains the magnolia image at the center, adding a treeline at the top and blue bands representing water near the bottom (apparently there's some large river in the area, I dunno.) These plates mark the first time that the state has used a reversed 123-ABC format for passenger plates for the entire state (larger counties used this format in 1974-76). Letter series are once again assigned to counties in blocks, with this plate being the 28th plate issued in Quitman county, as indicated by the once-again-wider county name.

Mississippi 2009 passenger issue. This graphic was introduced in October, 2007 and features the historic Biloxi Lighthouse on the Gulf Coast of the state (something of a symbol of resiliency for the region, as the historic lighthouse was one of the few structures on the immediate coastline to withstand Hurricane Katrina in 2005.) These plates once again reverted to the ABC-123 serial arrangement, blocked again by county. This plate was issued in Quitman county. This issue became a quick favorite among collectors, winning the 2007 ALPCA Plate of the Year award by a large margin.

Mississippi 2013 passenger issue. This graphic issue was introduced in October, 2012 and features an image of a guitar at center with the slogans "Birthplace of American Music" and "Celebrating Mississippi's Creative Culture." This issue is sometimes referred to as the "Lucille" plate, as the guitar pictured is a Gibson of the type played by Mississippi native B.B. King. This plate was issued in Marshall county.

Mississippi 2019 passenger issue. Mississippi has historically re-plated every five years starting in October, which would have scheduled the transition from the Lucille base to the next issue to begin in October, 2017. Budgetary issues, however, caused the state to push the replacement date out by over a year, to January, 2019. As a result of the extended use of the old base, some larger counties have overrun their allocation of available serials. Rather than dip into unused letter blocks from smaller counties to fill the gap, the state opted to adopt a seven-digit format for these counties. The extra character does step on the graphic a bit, otherwise the plate remains unchanged. This plate was issued in Rankin county, suburban Jackson area.

Mississippi 2019 passenger issue. As noted above, the delayed replacement for the Lucille plates began being issued in January, 2019. This issue features a gold fade background with the state seal in the center. The issue has been subject to some controversy due to the state seal element, making this the first standard issue plate to feature the In God We Trust slogan. The color scheme has also met mixed reviews, the gold tends more towards a dirty brown. Serials in all counties are seven digits, continuing the arrangement on the last base.

Additional Mississippi information provided by: Sal Dodd, Jeff Ellis

Ahead to Missouri

Back to Minnesota

Return to U.S. Plates Index

Last Modified 8/1/2022 (added non-graphic 1982 plate).

	Mississippi 1969 passenger issue. Mississippi plates have carried an embossed county name since the exp. 1941 issue. From 1962 through 73, the plates also started with a county code number, assigned alphabetically. This plate was from Jefferson county, #32. All Mississippi plates of this era expired in October. Early 1969 plates were made using the same die set that had been used on the state's plates since at least 1965, however, a die change came about shortly thereafter (see next).
	Mississippi 1969 passenger issue. This revised die set was introduced shortly into the production run of the state's 1969 plates. The new die set used narrower characters and a letter die that was shorter than the number die, as seen by the short "D" character on this plate. This die set would become the far more common type for 1969. This plate was issued in Adams county, first alphabetically, hence the "1" county code.
	Mississippi 1970 passenger issue. Colors changed to blue on white for this year. This plate was from Jefferson county, number 32 alphabetically. The alpha character on the plate was a weight code, with passenger plates issued letter codes as follows: A = 1800 lbs or less, B = 1801-3000 lbs, C = 3001 to 4000 lbs, D = over 4000 lbs. These codes were first used in 1962 and ran through 1976.
	Mississippi 1971 passenger issue. Green on white non-reflective issue. This plate was issued in Alcorn county, code #2, weight class "C".
	Mississippi 1972 passenger issue. This issue was the first fully-reflectorized Mississippi plate. It was from Coahoma county, number 14 and another weight class "C" vehicle (3001-4000 lbs).
	Mississippi 1973 passenger issue. This was the last year for the numerical county code prefixes on plates. This one is also from Alcorn county, number 2, also class C.
	Mississippi 1974 passenger issue. This was the first year of three alpha-three numeric Mississippi plates. Blocks of letters were given to counties and were shifted from year to year to avoid duplication. This plate was from Jones county. Weight codes were continued on this base, with the first letter on a passenger plate (A through D, as noted on the 1970 plate above) indicating vehicle weight with the other two letters as serial.
	Mississippi 1974 passenger issue. In order to avoid running out of available combinations, the five largest counties in the state were issued passenger plates in this reversed 123-ABC format. These were issued in Hinds, Harrison, Jackson, Washington, and Lauderdale counties. This practice was continued in 1975 and 1976 as well, before the elimination of weight coding made it unnecessary.
	Mississippi 1975 passenger issue. This plate was from Coahoma county and was from weight class A, the lightest class.
	Mississippi 1975 passenger issue. Reverse-format plate from Hinds county. Again these reverse-format plates were issued in the five largest counties to assure that the state didn't run out of letters in the ABC-123 format.
	Mississippi 1976 passenger issue. This was the last of the yearly plates for Mississippi, and was issued in Montgomery county. Some larger counties issued passenger plates in a reversed 123-ABC format this year as well when their allocation of ABC-123 format plates ran out. This was the last year for weight code letters in Mississippi.
	Mississippi 1976 passenger issue. The last of the reverse-format plates from the five largest counties, as this practice was made unnecessary when weight codes were eliminated on the next base.
	Mississippi 1978 passenger issue. This "Magnolia" baseplate was introduced in 1977 and was the first for the state to carry a graphic or slogan. It was also the first multi-year issue for the state since 1918. This plate is also from Alcorn county. This plate won ALPCA's Plate of the Year award in 1977.
	Mississippi 1980 passenger issue. Some plates on the 1977 Magnolia base were produced using a much darker green color for the flower and slogan at the center of the plate. These seem to have been produced later in the run of these plates (most carrying 1980 or 1981 expirations) and were probably due to a variation in the production of the plate blanks, not an intentional design change. This plate was issued in Carroll county.
	Mississippi 1982 passenger issue. Near the end of 1981, Mississippi ran out of sheeting for the 1977 Magnolia base. Since a new base was slated to be released in October, 1981, the state opted not to order more of the old sheeting and instead issued a small number of all-embossed non-graphic passenger plates in the counties that ran short of stock. Initial plates of this type used the narrow dies from the 1977 base, while later ones used the wider ones introduced for the 1982 base (see next.) These plates are exceedingly uncommon and among the top of the list for modern rarities.
	Mississippi 1982 passenger issue. This "Curly S" base was used from 1982 through 1993, sticking with the ABC-123 format and using new larger dies for the serial. This plate was issued in Alcorn county, which was issuing plates in the "AHx" block of letters at the time. This plate is sort of an oddball in that the "A" dies are from the previous, narrower die set, while the rest of the dies are from the wider one introduced for this base.
	Mississippi 1989 passenger issue. Starting in October 1987, all original 1982-base plates were replaced with this issue, which was identical to the last plate aside from the introduction of a seven-digit serial format. The first digit on the plate was a class code, with "1" indicating passenger. The rest of the serial again used blocks of letters assigned to individual counties, this plate being issued in Madison county. The older Mississippi dies were brought back to facilitate the use of a seven-digit plate.
	Mississippi 1993 passenger issue. This "Baby Blue" base was first issued in 1992 and used through 1998. This plate was from Chickasaw county. It won the ALPCA Plate of the Year award in 1992.
	Mississippi 1996 passenger issue. Continuation of the blue base. In 1995, plate production was shifted from Columbus Marble Works, a Mississippi-based company which had made Mississippi plates for decades, to the Waldale Company in Nova Scotia, who did a pretty fair job of matching the standard Mississippi dies. Waldale has since used these dies on current Prince Edward Island issues as well. The Waldale-made Mississippi plates are squarer at the edges and stamped more crisply than the Columbus plates and are pretty easy to tell apart.
	Mississippi 1999 passenger issue. In 1998, this plate was issued to replace the previous blue based plates. This design returned the magnolia to the center of the plate and features fading green and yellow colors on either side of the flower. These plates are again manufactured by Waldale using standard Mississippi dies. Embossed county names continue on this base, with this plate having been issued in Yazoo county. As in "Boy, the guy who sold me this plate had Mississippi plates out the Yazoo!" Sorry... These plates were issued through late 2002.
	Mississippi 2003 passenger issue. In 2002, the contract to produce Mississippi plates shifted from Waldale in Nova Scotia over to Irwin-Hodson in Oregon. The plate's appearance remained largely the same, with the only notable difference being the narrow dies used for the county name on the Irwin-Hodson plates. I believe this was done to standardize the die set between the counties with longer names and those with shorter names. The state must not have approved, however - see next.
	Mississippi 2003 passenger issue. Another Irwin-Hodson produced plate. Shortly after the narrow-die county names started to appear, they were discontinued. The large-size dies returned within a couple months, presumably due to displeasure over the appearance of the narrow ones.
	Mississippi 2003 passenger issue. This design was introduced in late 2002 and replaced all previous plates by the end of 2003. The plate retains the magnolia image at the center, adding a treeline at the top and blue bands representing water near the bottom (apparently there's some large river in the area, I dunno.) These plates mark the first time that the state has used a reversed 123-ABC format for passenger plates for the entire state (larger counties used this format in 1974-76). Letter series are once again assigned to counties in blocks, with this plate being the 28th plate issued in Quitman county, as indicated by the once-again-wider county name.
	Mississippi 2009 passenger issue. This graphic was introduced in October, 2007 and features the historic Biloxi Lighthouse on the Gulf Coast of the state (something of a symbol of resiliency for the region, as the historic lighthouse was one of the few structures on the immediate coastline to withstand Hurricane Katrina in 2005.) These plates once again reverted to the ABC-123 serial arrangement, blocked again by county. This plate was issued in Quitman county. This issue became a quick favorite among collectors, winning the 2007 ALPCA Plate of the Year award by a large margin.
	Mississippi 2013 passenger issue. This graphic issue was introduced in October, 2012 and features an image of a guitar at center with the slogans "Birthplace of American Music" and "Celebrating Mississippi's Creative Culture." This issue is sometimes referred to as the "Lucille" plate, as the guitar pictured is a Gibson of the type played by Mississippi native B.B. King. This plate was issued in Marshall county.
	Mississippi 2019 passenger issue. Mississippi has historically re-plated every five years starting in October, which would have scheduled the transition from the Lucille base to the next issue to begin in October, 2017. Budgetary issues, however, caused the state to push the replacement date out by over a year, to January, 2019. As a result of the extended use of the old base, some larger counties have overrun their allocation of available serials. Rather than dip into unused letter blocks from smaller counties to fill the gap, the state opted to adopt a seven-digit format for these counties. The extra character does step on the graphic a bit, otherwise the plate remains unchanged. This plate was issued in Rankin county, suburban Jackson area.
	Mississippi 2019 passenger issue. As noted above, the delayed replacement for the Lucille plates began being issued in January, 2019. This issue features a gold fade background with the state seal in the center. The issue has been subject to some controversy due to the state seal element, making this the first standard issue plate to feature the In God We Trust slogan. The color scheme has also met mixed reviews, the gold tends more towards a dirty brown. Serials in all counties are seven digits, continuing the arrangement on the last base.