A license to print money?
Pair of 1916 Ontario plates brings more than $16,000
These 1916 Ontario canvas-wrapped “temporary” license plates, originally issued to Emerson Luckhardt of New Hamburg, Ontario, shocked collectors when they sold for $16,520 at Miller & Miller’s Canadiana sale in February 2018. This was more than ten times the high estimate.
When you think of old license plates do you picture a box full of rusty old metal signs tucked in the corner of someone’s garage, worthless but nostalgic?
Well think again.
At their February 2018 sale, Miller & Miller Auction sold a pair of 1916 canvas-wrapped heavy cardboard licence plates with brass grommets for – get ready for it – $16,520. The rare Ontario plates were issued during the First World War at a time, when due to the war effort, metal was in short supply. The plates were known as ‘temporary markers’ and only good until July 1, 1916, then they had to be replaced.
Auctioneer Ethan Miller was as surprised as anyone. When first contacted about the collection by the heir of a three-generation estate, he too pictured a bunch of rusty old plates, so he took his time going to see them. But once he did get there, he was stunned by what he saw. Before him was an intact run of Ontario licence plates originally issued to Emerson Luckhardt, a former New Hamburg jeweller who had a penchant for saving every object he ever owned.
“We had no idea what the 1916 plates were worth,” Ethan admits. “None had been known to turn up in recent history and if they did, they changed hands quietly so there was no track record of value.”
After consulting with collectors, Miller & Miller set the estimate for the early canvas-wrapped plates at $1,200 to $1,500, never imagining they’d bring more than ten times the high estimate. They sold at their Canadiana & Decorative Arts Auction (Lot 386a) which closed Feb. 8, 2018.
Emerson Luckhardt, cigar in left hand, tobacco leaves in right, in the 1930s. The shed in the background protected his Model T Ford years earlier, the car for which the purchased the 1916 temporary license plates. (Image courtesy of Bonnie Berndt)
The history of licence plates in Ontario is a fascinating one. The first registration of vehicles was September 1903. The permits were leather with applied metal numbers and there were fewer than 200 vehicles formally recorded, according to Joseph P. Sallmen, author of the book Ontario License Plates, A Century of History. “The registration system began as a means to collect revenue and identify vehicles,” he writes. “Certainly these two simple facts are still the backbone of today’s vehicle registration system.” Although the primary purpose remained the same, the size, materials and manufacturers of licence plates continually changed over the years, providing a smorgasbord for modern day collectors.
The sale of the 1916 Luckhardt plates drew another set out of the woodwork, which sold at Miller & Miller’s Memorabilia & Advertising sale in June 2018 for $6,325 (Lot 315). And that set attracted yet another set. In a strange twist of fate, the numbers on the third set were just one number higher than Luckhardt’s plates, which meant the original owner must have been standing in line right behind Luckhardt in 1916. Imagine the conversation they might have had if they knew the fate of their plates. This set sold for $6,325 at the Canadiana & Historic Objects sale on Feb. 9, 2019 (Lot 349).
Another set of 1916 Ontario canvas-wrapped “temporary” license plates sold through Miller & Miller. In a strange twist of fate, the numbers on this set (T1051) are just a single number lower than Luckhardt’s (T1050). Did these two early Ontario motorists brush shoulders in the line-up?
Other interesting Ontario plates at that auction included a rubber set issued in 1910, estimated to fetch between $3,000 and $5,000. Described in Sallmen’s book, they were made of whitewall-painted cloth sandwiched between two slabs of rubber – a combo that commanded $8,850 at the sale (Lot 348). A set of 1911 cast iron plates coated in cobalt blue porcelain enamel brought $2,070 (Lot 347). Made by the McClary Stove Company in London, the porcelain versions only lasted a year since they were expensive to make and prone to chipping.
In 1905 rubber became the material of choice for Ontario license plates. This pair of 1910s commanded $8,850 at Miller & Miller’s Canadiana sale in February 2019.
Due to their high cost and proneness to chipping, these porcelainized 1911 Ontario licence plates, produced by McClary Stoves, had a short-lived existence.
The evolution of Ontario license plates fascinates both collectors and the simply curious. Whether they’re made of leather, rubber, porcelain, flat tin, cloth-bound cardboard, or metal, they’re all part of Ontario’s broader automotive history.
Sallmen, who has been a collector for over 40 years, thinks the appeal in collecting license plates boils down to their variety – so many different materials, colours, styles, numbers, graphics. A lot of the early collectors, he notes, “tended to first be car collectors who were interested in car parts and then license plates. It was a kind of natural evolution.”
Evidence of their popularity, he points out, is a Facebook group for license plate collectors with more than 8,000 members worldwide, including in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia.
And it’s not just the rare, early plates that bring money. Provenance can also play a huge role, adds Sallmen, citing the set that came off the car President John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1963. Those plates sold for $100,000 US.
The license plates from the Lincoln JFK was assassinated in. They sold for $100,000 US.
As for Ontario plates, over the years their sizes, manufacturers, and durability have all varied. The 1921 plate, for example, was nicknamed ‘Slim Jim’ because of its unusual long, narrow design. During the Great Depression, the government issued a smaller plate to conserve metal. And as of 1931, all of Ontario’s licence plates are prison-made.
“This is such a fascinating branch of collecting,” says Sallmen, “and there are so many ways to approach it – for example by date, by gathering one from each province and state, or by design.” His advice to new collectors: “Start small and learn as much as you can – what’s scarce, what’s common, and do your research.”
Story by Diane Sewell
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