First issue, handpainted.
Style of 1917-22
Style of 1924-30
Style of 1931-38
Style of 1939-50
Style of 3/53 - 3/55
Style of 1955-60, 62 (tri-color)
Style of 1961, 63-70 (two color)
Style of 1971-77
Style of 1982-85
Style of 1986-90
Style of 1991-date
current motorcycle plate
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How it all began...
Even though Yukon is in the remote North, vehicle registrations
were set up suprisingly early. This is probably due to the gold-rush
(the Klondike) which started at the end of the 19th century.
The Yukon was settled by many, who came to seek their fortune in gold.
Dawson City was supposedly the largest city west of Winnipeg at one point!
Today, much of this boom has gone bust, as many of these "get rich quick"
overnight operations folded. As a result, there are a lot of isolated
ghost towns not connected by any modern routes.
The Yukon first started registration in 1914, using flat tin plates which displayed
the year of issue rather than the year of expiry. The plates were handpainted
using a stencil on flat tin and probably all done by the same signpainter. They were
intended to be permanent until replaced by the annual embossed license plates provided by the territory starting in 1924.
All these early plates carried "YT" for Yukon Territory.
An interesting design came out in 1952 with the miner
"Yukon Sam" panning for gold, complete with a gold nugget in the pan!
This wasn't real gold, of course, but rather a dab of gold paint, applied
by hand. The "Land of the Midnight Sun" has provided us with a colorful
license plate history as you can see on the far left. The tri-color
styles (where the miner is of a different color from the numbers) are very
popular with collectors.
Physical Characteristics
| 1914-23 |
Flat Steel, handpainted |
| 1924-52 |
Embossed Steel, no dated plate for '51. |
| 1953 |
Embossed steel, clipped upper corners |
| 1954, 55 |
Date strips for '53 base
New registrants in '55 received '55 dated plate. |
| 1955-79 |
Embossed steel |
| 1980-81 |
Embossed steel green/white base validated by plate stickers |
| 1982-85 |
Embossed Steel undated red/white base, plate stickers |
| 1986-90 |
Embossed Reflectorized Steel black/beige, plate stickers |
| 1991-date |
Aluminum reflectorized graphic, plate stickers. |
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Only the current graphic plate issued since 1991 is valid.
Slogans & Graphics
| 1953-date |
Yukon Sam (Picture of Miner) |
| 1953-70 |
"LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN" |
| 1971-77 |
"HOME OF THE KLONDIKE" |
| 1978-date |
"THE KLONDIKE" |
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Yukon Sam is complete with a dab of gold paint in his pan,
representing a gold nugget.
Numbering Systems
| 1914-75 |
Numeric, up to 4 digits. |
| 1976-77 |
A-123 format.
Prefix letter indicates geographical region. |
| 1978-81 |
AB-12 format |
| 1982-90 |
ABC-1 (3 alpha one numeric!) |
| 1991-date |
ABC-12 format |
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From 1976-81, the prefix letter denotes the geographic region
issuing office.
Non-passenger types
| D |
Dealer |
| FT |
Freight Truck |
| FGx, G |
Government |
| PSV |
Public Service Vehicle |
| RES |
Restricted |
| T |
Truck |
| RAx, UD |
U-Drive (Rental) |
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Non passenger types usually do not carry the Yukon Miner
graphic as illustrated by these plates:
Compare this boring design with the passenger plate. |
The Yukon had a permanent multi-year plate for territorial
government vehicles. |
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Special Issues
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This officially issued booster plate issued in 1992 commemorates
the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Canada Highway linking BC, Yukon and
Alaska. This was quite a feat in 1942 when major road construction
up North was almost unheard of. They were also issued
for BC & Yukon.
Shown here are two examples. The first is a general
issue, the other is specific to the Yukon. |
Links
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