I remember 46 years ago in the summer of 1980 when the 7-digit plates first showed up on cars, thinking I'd never see that series go through all the possible number/letter combinations. But, I underestimated the population growth of the state, so we went through the possible combinations faster than I thought we would. Today I saw the first one on a car with the reversed number/letter pattern where the 3 numbers are first, then 3 letters, then 1 number. Kind of a goofy way to arrange the numbers and letters, especially since the most significant digit is now the one on the far right.
saw my first reversed CA auto plate today, anyone else?
- Thread starter dwalby
- Start date
wjbertrand
Ventura Highway
What makes that digit more significant?
we started at 1AAA000, and after we got to 9ZZZ999, it rolled over and reversed order to 000AAA1. So then we go all the way to 999ZZZ1, and then it rolls over to 000AAA2. So the most significant digit in the sequence is at the far right now instead of the far left.
ST Gui
240Robert
It just seems like another way to allow for the production of more plates. Any numbering sequence is finite eventually necessitating a change in sequence. Doesn't seem goofy at all to me. Few of us will probably live to see CA's first 8-alphanumeric plate so there's that.
I've seen a few out my way. But that's not what I was thinking of when I saw "reversed" in the subject line. Now that would be a goofy way...
I've seen a few out my way. But that's not what I was thinking of when I saw "reversed" in the subject line. Now that would be a goofy way...
My first thought was back to decades ago, when we got new plates in VA every year, and they alternated white-on-black and black-on-white.
In American culture, license plates typically followed the convention (similar to the way we write numbers) of most significant digit is furthest left.
If a state issues plates with the pattern "AAA 000", as many do, the rightmost "0" is not the last digit to change in the numerical sequence, its the first to change, the least significant digit. The leftmost "A" will change last, the most significant digit. So the new CA plates are a bit unconventional (or reversed) in that regard.
nothing earth-shattering, but it is unusual.