1903-04 Leather Plates

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Dealer Plates

Replicas

Ontario was the first province in Canada that passed a law in 1903 that required motorists to pay $2 for a leather licence shield adorned with aluminum numbers. They were designed by a member of the Hamilton Auto Club, and manufactured by a Toronto-based harness maker. John C. Eaton bought the first two — one for his 1903 Winton (likely pictured above), and the second for his National electric vehicle.

Dr. Perry Doolittle, who would later found CAA, bought the third of what would eventually be 178 plates issued that year. The fourth plate, issued to Howard Chandler still exists today and is held by his descendants. Only two types of plates were made: passenger and dealer. As of this writing only a handful are known to survive – all passenger plates. No original dealer plates have been found to date.

In terms of construction, numerals are riveted on and are cast aluminum, however the rivets do not show on the front of the numerals (which is a tell-tail sign of a fake). The aluminum oval disc is also riveted in the same manner although the rivets are visible on the front. Visitors from outside Ontario were issued leather plates at the border. These were issued in the 1000 block series. It is unknown if the plate sized differed due to the four-digit configuration.

Passenger Plates Known: 13

Year	Plate Number	Original Registration	Date & Auto Make	Current Ownership	Details	Picture
1903	4	Walter Howard Chandler, 100 Tyndall Avenue, Toronto, ON	September 1, 1903; Cadillac	Gordon Kapelus Collection	Image courtesy of Chandler family. Owned by Chandler family until 2020.
1903	9	S. W. McMichael, 101 St. George Street, Toronto, ON	August 29, 1903; Rambler	MTO Archives	Image courtesy of Jim Becksted (2000).
1903	67	John. R. Moodie, Hamilton, Ontario	September 1, 1903; Winton	Descendants - The Newlands family	Image courtesy of Newlands Family. At some point the aluminum numbers were replaced but the leather and seal are original. Traces of the old numbers can be seen (stem of 7 for instance)
1903	126	Richard Whittaker, Sarnia, ON	September 8, 1903; Oldsmobile	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of private contributor.
1903	222	A. E. Chatterson, 75 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON	May 3, 1904; National (Electric)	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Norm Ratcliffe.
1903	240	John McMartin, London, ON	May 11, 1904; Ford	Dave Steckley Collection	Image courtesy of Hathway family. Formerly owned by Mike Hathway.
1903	508	No record in 1903. However, most owners received the same plate number during the 1905 rubber re-plate. Cross-referencing the 1905-06 registry, this number was registered to S.W. McMichael, Toronto, ON. Not definitive, but a strong possibility.	No Record	Jon Upton Collection	Discovered at auction in 2012. Image courtesy of Jon Upton.
1903	568	No record in 1903. However, most owners received the same plate number during the 1905 rubber re-plate. Cross-referencing the 1905-06 registry, this number was registered to Robert Dobie, 15 Wellington St, Toronto, ON. Not definitive, but a strong possibility.	No Record	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of eBay. Sold in 2010. Formerly owned by Wayne Plunkett.
1903	591	No record in 1903. However, most owners received the same plate number during the 1905 rubber re-plate. Cross-referencing the 1905-06 registry, this number was registered to Walter A. Sadler, Toronto, ON. Not definitive, but a strong possibility.	No Record	Eric Vettoretti Collection	Formerly owned by Chandler family and Dick Patterson.
1903	702	A.P. Goering, 102 West Avenue S., Hamilton, ON	No Record	Frank Crooks Collection	Image courtesy of Facebook. "AP Goering" is etched on the backside of the plate. Cross-referencing the 1905-06 registry, this matches the same ownership record for the rubber plate. Most owners received the same plate number in 1905 during the re-plate. Formerly owned by Dick Patterson and Eugene Skotniczy.
1903	742	No record, likely never issued given the lack of provincial seal.	No Record	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Norm Ratcliffe. As this plate is missing the oval licensing seal, it's assumed it was never issued. The plate however is genuine when comparing all the features.
1903	744	J. J. Peardon, Thamesville, ON	No Record	Chatham-Kent Museum Collection	Image courtesy of Chatham-Kent Museum
1903	948	No record in either 1903 or 1905-06 registry.	No Record	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of private contributor.

To date, only one surviving leather dealer plate has been found. Dealers were assigned letters in alphabetical order on a first come first served basis. With the recent find of dealer plate “F”, it is now confirmed that dealer plates were made in the same fashion as the passenger plates, however the dimensions were different. The overall width of the plate was narrower, similar to the Ministry replica made in the 1920s from spare parts (see replica section below). In addition, the oval disc script reads “EXEMPT FROM PROVINCIAL LICENSE” as dealers did not have to pay licensing fees.

Dealer Plates Known: 1

Year	Plate Number	Original Registration	Current Ownership	Details	Picture
1903	F	Not conclusive, however the 1906 registration was to David Bowen of Berlin, ON.	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Norm Ratcliffe.

Listed below are all the known replica leather plates to help novice collectors avoid a potential costly mistake. By no means are the replica plate sections below and on subsequent pages meant to “out” collectors – it is simply a registry. For example, I owned fake #80 leather in my collection for over 15 years.

Replica Plates Known: 24

Year	Plate Number	Ownership	Details	Picture
1903 Replica	B	MTO Archives	Image courtesy of the Ministry. Assembled by using Ministry's spare parts in 1920. Consistent with the "F" plate above, the leather shield dimensions differ from the known passenger examples.
1903 Replica	B	Former Gary Edwards Collection
1903 Replica	B	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Terry Ellsworth - 2013. Taken during Belleville Musem closing.
1903 Replica	B	Darren Wallace collection	Image courtesy of Darren Wallace. Mounted to the rear of his 1905 Queen Model B Automobile.
1903 Replica	BB	Former Gary Edwards Collection. Sold on ebay August 2024.
1903 Replica	4	Unknown Private Collection	Formerly in Hayes collection, current whereabouts unknown.
1903 Replica	7	Ernie Trimble Collection	Image courtesy of Jon Upton
1903 Replica	8	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Belleville Antique Market
1903 Replica	9	Unknown Private Collection	Different style from #9 below (narrow vs. wide shield). Ebay Image.
1903 Replica	9	Unknown Private Collection	Internet image.
1903 Replica	9	Gary Edwards Collection	Different than entry above as the oval has silver mounting nails.
1903 Replica	25	Mounted on 1905 Northern car	Image courtesy of Autofocus.ca
1903 Replica	27	Formerly Ross Arnott Collection	Image courtesy of Dave Steckley
1903 Replica	34	Ken LeBlanc Collection	Image courtesy of Thomas Zimmermann
1903 Replica	35	Unknown Private Collection. Likely from the Hamilton area.	Image courtesy of Jon Upton. Photo taken of a picture.
1903 Replica	44	Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA)	Image from ALPCA archives.
1903 Replica	55	Unknown Private Collection	Sold on ebay mid-2000's. Ebay Image.
1903 Replica	65	Former Gary Edwards Collection
1903 Replica	80	Brian Woodard Collection
1903 Replica	85	Liam Kivits Collection	Former Gary Edwards collection.
1903 Replica	215	Unknown Private Collection	Image courtesy of Keith Murphy. One of the better replica's, however the aluminum numbers are different when comparing to originals. The oval seal has different spacing in the engraving and the hanging tabs are not the same materials as the originals.
1903 Replica	367	Pictured in Bruce Lobay's Canadian plates pocket book.	Image courtesy of ALPCA archives. Dimensions and numerals do not match originals.
1903 Replica	595	Gary Edwards Collection
1903 Replica	846	Darren Wallace collection	Image courtesy of Darren Wallace. Mounted to the front of his 1905 Queen Model B Automobile.