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Alberta Archive
TOTAL KNOWN PORCELAIN VARIETIES: 4
I: PRE-PROVINCIALS / CITY & COUNTY PLATES
There are no known pre-provincial porcelains from Alberta. There are also no
cities in the Province that are known to have issued porcelain plates.
II: PROVINCIALLY-ISSUED PASSENGER PLATES
Alberta first began issuing standardized
license plates in 1912 with a large blue &
white plate in the format of a number of
Canadian first-issue plates. These plates
are unmarked as to manufacturer, but the
remnants of a paper sticker on the reverse
of one surviving example proves that
these plates were manufactured by the
Montreal-based Thomas Davidson
Manufacturing Company, the same
company which produced the early Quebec
porcelain license plates and dashboard
plaques. The 1912 plates were issued in
pairs and numbers range up to about 2,000.
There are a number of Canadian porcelains
which were produced in smaller quantities,
but for whatever reason, very few of the Alberta 1912 plates have survived,
making it the rarest and most sought after passenger porcelain from the Country.
The only other porcelain issue from Alberta was issued in 1913. Substantially
different in size, color and layout from the 1912, the red 1913 plates were
patterned after the Manitoba plates, complete with the provincial crest fired into
the porcelain. Also issued in pairs, registrations in 1913 are known to have
reached nearly 4,000. It is notable that the 1913 porcelains were also issued as
blanks with the provincial crest only but no numbers. These appear to have been
used for replacements and possibly high numbers, and are also known with
painted-in dealer numbers.
In 1914, Alberta abandoned its use of porcelain after two years, switching to flat
painted plates on the distinctive wire-framed base made popular by the
MacDonald Manufacturing Company of Toronto. However, there are reports that
a porcelain version of the 1914 plate exists. The most likely explanation for such
a plate would probably be that the porcelain manufacturer produced a prototype
in an unsuccessful effort to gain the Provincial contract to produce license plates
in 1914. Whatever the case, I am unable to personally verify that a porcelain 1914
plate exists.
III: PROVINCIALLY-ISSUED NON-PASSENGER PLATES
There are no known non-passenger variants of the first issue Alberta, but the
1913 is known in both dealer and motorcycle versions - both of which are
exceptionally rare.
DEALER
Dealers come in two varieties. In some cases, porcelain blanks are known with
the number painted on, often in silver characters. These bases have the “ALTA
1913” and the Provincial crest in porcelain just like the normal plates, but they
have no plate number. I have seen a couple of these with “D” prefix dealer plate
numbers painted on them. Seemingly more rare is a full porcelain dealer plate, of
which I have only ever seen one example. The dealer class appears to have
begun with #D100, but so few have survived that the range of issued numbers
cannot really be estimated
MOTORCYCLE
Even rarer than the dealer plates are 1913 porcelain cycle plates from Alberta, of
which I am aware of a grand total of one example in collectors’ hands. It is a
miniature version of the 1913 passenger plate, except for the fact that it lacks the
provincial crest. The only surviving example is #204, suggesting that there might
just be more of these little plates out there waiting to be found.
I: PRE-PROVINCIALS / CITY & COUNTY PLATES
There are no known pre-provincial porcelains from Alberta. There are also no
cities in the Province that are known to have issued porcelain plates.
II: PROVINCIALLY-ISSUED PASSENGER PLATES
Alberta first began issuing standardized
license plates in 1912 with a large blue &
white plate in the format of a number of
Canadian first-issue plates. These plates
are unmarked as to manufacturer, but the
remnants of a paper sticker on the reverse
of one surviving example proves that
these plates were manufactured by the
Montreal-based Thomas Davidson
Manufacturing Company, the same
company which produced the early Quebec
porcelain license plates and dashboard
plaques. The 1912 plates were issued in
pairs and numbers range up to about 2,000.
There are a number of Canadian porcelains
which were produced in smaller quantities,
but for whatever reason, very few of the Alberta 1912 plates have survived,
making it the rarest and most sought after passenger porcelain from the Country.
The only other porcelain issue from Alberta was issued in 1913. Substantially
different in size, color and layout from the 1912, the red 1913 plates were
patterned after the Manitoba plates, complete with the provincial crest fired into
the porcelain. Also issued in pairs, registrations in 1913 are known to have
reached nearly 4,000. It is notable that the 1913 porcelains were also issued as
blanks with the provincial crest only but no numbers. These appear to have been
used for replacements and possibly high numbers, and are also known with
painted-in dealer numbers.
In 1914, Alberta abandoned its use of porcelain after two years, switching to flat
painted plates on the distinctive wire-framed base made popular by the
MacDonald Manufacturing Company of Toronto. However, there are reports that
a porcelain version of the 1914 plate exists. The most likely explanation for such
a plate would probably be that the porcelain manufacturer produced a prototype
in an unsuccessful effort to gain the Provincial contract to produce license plates
in 1914. Whatever the case, I am unable to personally verify that a porcelain 1914
plate exists.
III: PROVINCIALLY-ISSUED NON-PASSENGER PLATES
There are no known non-passenger variants of the first issue Alberta, but the
1913 is known in both dealer and motorcycle versions - both of which are
exceptionally rare.
DEALER
Dealers come in two varieties. In some cases, porcelain blanks are known with
the number painted on, often in silver characters. These bases have the “ALTA
1913” and the Provincial crest in porcelain just like the normal plates, but they
have no plate number. I have seen a couple of these with “D” prefix dealer plate
numbers painted on them. Seemingly more rare is a full porcelain dealer plate, of
which I have only ever seen one example. The dealer class appears to have
begun with #D100, but so few have survived that the range of issued numbers
cannot really be estimated
MOTORCYCLE
Even rarer than the dealer plates are 1913 porcelain cycle plates from Alberta, of
which I am aware of a grand total of one example in collectors’ hands. It is a
miniature version of the 1913 passenger plate, except for the fact that it lacks the
provincial crest. The only surviving example is #204, suggesting that there might
just be more of these little plates out there waiting to be found.
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Note that there were blank 1913 porcelains produced on which hand-painted passenger and dealer numbers were written in silver paint |
| Alberta, 1912 Courtesy of Mike Duff |
