1912-20 Dealer Plates

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From 1912 to 1920 Ontario’s plates were made of flat metal and didn’t feature any embossed characters. Instead, the plate numbers, year and provincial crest were silk-screened onto the plates. From 1912 to 1916 they had a wire rim to increase rigidity, then in 1917 the province likely switched suppliers and went to a heavier gauge metal plate without a wire rim.

Unlike passenger plates, dealer plates had a unique plate number sequence in order to differentiate them from regular plates. As a hold over from the way dealer plates were issued from 1903 to 1911, dealers in 1912 were able to choose a letter-based plate combination of their liking. These were often initials of the car company, a sole proprietor or dealership. In 1913 the province switched the numbering pattern to an “M” prefix followed by a sequential number. With registrations skyrocketing the province likely found the previous system too onerous and administrative. The “M” prefix was chosen to represent a dual meaning – “Merchant” and “Manufacturer”.

Numbering started at M1 and no more than four digits were required as dealer registrations were very low compared to regular passenger plates. In any given year, no more than approximately 2,700 pairs were made annually (ie: M1 to M2700) as evidenced by the 1918 survivors.

1912 Plates Known: 0

At this time, no 1912 dealer plates are known to have survived. Both the ‘REO’ and ‘WWK’ plates pictured above are the only archival evidence found to date. Additionally, a list of permits registration book has not yet been found for 1912, therefore the origins of the ‘WWK’ plate are unknown.

1913 Plates Known: 0

Similar to above, no 1913 dealer plates have been found thus far. Until very recently it was unknown what year the “M” prefix began as no photo evidence or plate had surfaced. The photo above was found in 2019 and now demonstrates that the ‘M’ series started in 1913.

1914 Plates Known: 3

Year	Plate Number	Ownership	Details	Picture
1914	M516	Dave Steckley Collection	Image courtesy of Dave Steckley
1914	M657	Eric Vettoretti Collection	Likely registered to an Overland Motors dealership in Listowel, Ontario.
1914	M657	Jon Upton Collection	Likely registered to an Overland Motors dealership in Listowel, Ontario.

1915 Plates Known: 2

Year	Plate Number	Ownership	Details	Picture
1915	M480	Unknown Private Collection	Pictured, page 32 Ontario License Plates – A Century of History by (Sallmen)
1915	M809	Patterson Family Collection	Image courtesy of Eric Taylor.

1916 Plates Known: 5

Year	Plate Number	Ownership	Details	Picture
1916	M790	Dave Steckley Collection	Image courtesy of Dave Steckley
1916	M1036	Eric Vettoretti Collection
1916	M1330	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Shackleton Auctions. Sold in 2017 for $400.
1916	M1551	Patterson Family Collection	Pictured, page 32 Ontario License Plates – A Century of History by (Sallmen)
1916	M1678	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of John Harris

1917 Plates Known: 3

Year	Plate Number	Ownership	Details	Picture
1917	M725	Joe Sallmen Collection	Image courtesy of Joe Sallmen
1917	M817	Unknown Private Collection	Pictured, page 32 Ontario License Plates – A Century of History by (Sallmen)
1917	M994	Dave Steckley Collection	Image courtesy of Dave Steckley

1918 Plates Known: 8

Beginning in 1918 the word “DEALER” was added to the top of the plates. As a result, the plate numbers were much shorter to accommodate the heading.

Year	Plate Number	Ownership	Details	Picture
1918	M190	Eric Taylor Collection	Image courtesy of Eric Taylor. Also pictured, page 32 Ontario License Plates – A Century of History by (Sallmen).
1918	M190	Dave Steckley Collection	Image courtesy of Dave Steckley
1918	M775	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Worthpoint. Sold on ebay April, 2012.
1918	M775	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Worthpoint. Sold on ebay May, 2018.
1918	M2374	Eric Vettoretti Collection
1918	M2374	For sale at Picker's End flea market in Barrie, March 2020	Image courtesy of Kijiji.
1918	M2687	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Worthpoint. Sold on ebay June, 2011.
1918	M2689	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Worthpoint. Sold on ebay July, 2013.

1919 Plates Known: 2

Year	Plate Number	Ownership	Details	Picture
1919	M303	Dave Steckley Collection	Image courtesy of Dave Steckley
1919	M774	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of ebay. Sold September, 2019.

1920 Plates Known: 1

Year	Plate Number	Ownership	Details	Picture
1920	M1077	Unknown Private Collection	Pictured, page 32 Ontario License Plates – A Century of History by (Sallmen).