Cherished Number Plate Information

Information about cherished number plate COW 911K.

This combination was issued from 1972

This plate would have been issued by Southampton County Borough Council (currently Portsmouth).

As crime increases, it is now more important than ever to display easily distinguishable number plates. All car registrations must use the standard ‘Charles Wright 2001’ font and, apart from the options of a 3-D effect on the typeface and a non-reflective, coloured border, no alterations to plates are permitted in the UK. This includes the addition of logos or sporting emblems, as well as the misrepresentation or incorrect spacing of characters – these are all illegal.

Given that the law compels every motorist on the UK's roads to display an identifying number plate, it is not surprising that people have found ways to turn that limitation into a bit of fun. A compulsory vehicle registration may have been introduced for tedious bureaucratic reasons, but people have come to realise that, by selecting the characters displayed on their plates, they are often able to contrive combinations that look very much like names and words. These personal touches help an otherwise unremarkable car to stand out from any number of identical vehicles.

When choosing a personalised number plate, one must be aware that the selected registration plate must not be newer than the vehicle it is being paired with. This is because a newer plate on an older car would give the impression that the vehicle is more modern than it truly is. This applies to all registration numbers that have age-identifiers (introduced in 1963 to today). However, dateless registrations are also available. These are popular because they are concise, extremely scarce, and can be displayed on any car.