# 1909 Single Dray License Plate



## cryptic

Found a 1909 Single Dray License Plate.


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## cobaltbot

That is pretty cool, hard to believe you needed a license plate on a horse drawn wagon!  Great early date, wonder what the first year of issue was?


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## AntiqueMeds

was that only for commercial vehicals? There must of still been quite a few horses on the roads there in 1909?


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## cyberdigger

They are still required on horse/wagons in Romania.. I doubt they have to go through inspection, though! []


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## Plumbata

Killer plate cryptic, I bet that one is worth some good $$. Never heard of these before but I sure do like them now that I know they exist!

 Is it copper or brass? Good thing it was nonferrous otherwise it would just be another pile of rust dust. If I dug one it would be my favorite find even if I got bottles worth the same amount or more. Not too many of those around, certainly.


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## cowseatmaize

Awesome! sign me up!
 Oh, I thought it was singles day.[]


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## cryptic

> ORIGINAL: Plumbata
> 
> Killer plate cryptic, I bet that one is worth some good $$. Never heard of these before but I sure do like them now that I know they exist!
> 
> Is it copper or brass? Good thing it was nonferrous otherwise it would just be another pile of rust dust. If I dug one it would be my favorite find even if I got bottles worth the same amount or more. Not too many of those around, certainly.


 
 I can not find anything close to it on the internet.  I'm not sure what it is made of.  The front is mostly just black and there are some light green/bluish parts of oxidation on the back.  It is very flexible.  Some of the places where you can see through the oxidation are reddish orange in colour.  Hard to tell if it may be copper or brass.  Most of the items dug in this area are in very good shape!  I recently dug lawn clippings or hay/straw from this 1920's dump that was still in perfect condition..


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## cyberdigger

From looking at the pic and your description, I am wondering if it's made of tin ?


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## beendiggin

I read that the trash collectors and privy cleaners had to be liscensed by the towns they worked for .  They had horse drawn carts.


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## madman

NICE FINDS!


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## JOETHECROW

Way cool plate!


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## glass man

A PORCILIN CAR TAG FROM MY TOWN DATED 1922 DUG IN THE LOCAL DUMP WENT FOR OVER $2,000![:-] JAMIE


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## cryptic

Wow that is a crazy price for a license plate. I never knew that old license plates could be so valuable.


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## Plumbata

I've looked and can't find any reference to plates like that. Must be extraordinarily rare. You may have an _extremely_ valuable license plate there cryptic. Don't sell it until you learn more about it. It could easily be worth over 300, maybe even a lot more than that.

 That may be the best thing you'll manage to pull out of that entire dump!


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## surfaceone

Hey cryptic,

*Great Plate!* Happy snow pile to ya.

 I found a couple others, none quite as early as yours:










 "DRAY

 There are three dated varieties of Dray plates known - one from 1911, two 
 examples from 1915 and one from 1929.  These are nearly identical in layout and 
 appearance, and very likely were issued from the same jurisdiction.  These plates 
 could have adorned either horse-drawn carts or motorized trucks" From this Porcelain Plate Forum. You might wanna give their site a visit.






 "The plate shown at left would have been issued to operators of drays or express wagons within the City of Vancouver. The date at right make the year of issue easy to determine.  For those unfamiliar with what might constitute a "dray", it would have been a low heavy horse cart without sides that was used for haulage.  It is assumed that a different classification of license would have possibly applied to motor vehicles." From.






  "A 1915 Edmonton Alberta dray license. These were issued to horse drawn commercial vehicles in Edmonton at that time. When I obtained this plate it came with the original mounting strap which was attached somewhere on the horse, which I believe was above the eye. Brass plate with debossed numbers filled in with black paint." From.






 "MANITOBA, CANADA, PORTAGE LA PRARIE ---1912 DOUBLE DRAY COMMERCIAL HORSE LICENSE

 A double dray license plate from Portage La Prarie, Manitoba 1912 #13. A double dray is a two horse team licensed for hauling a commercial load for business. This is an equestrian version of what would be a commercial license plate on motorized vehicles." Same guy.




From.




From.


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## glass man

UNDERSTAND THIS TOWN WAS REAL SMALL IN 1922 AND NOT ALOT OF CARS HERE THEN...THEN TOO ...THAT A PERSON GAVE $2000 FOR IT MAY JUST MEAN THEY HAVE TOO DAMN MUCH MONEY! JAMIE


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## cryptic

Thank you for the contributed information everyone.  I'm not sure what I will be doing with this plate right now.  I don't really have a place to display it but I will hang onto it and eventually display it with great pride. It's a piece of history!

 Thank You!


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## Stardust

Great post, very interesting information.


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## cryptic

I received an email from someone that is very knowledgeable about license plates in my area.

 "Thanks for the link to that most unusual plate. If it is indeed Ontario, it is nothing like anything else the province has issued. I am not aware of any places having Dray plates from that long ago. Even Toronto isn't known to have had them that far back, and if they were issued, it's likely a few would have turned up by now. I find it possible, though unlikely, this is an Ontario plate, especially for a smaller town like Cobalt. Finally the dies on this plate do not suggest any kind of manufacture in Ontario. To me, this looks more likely to be something from Minnesota, Michigan or NY. A bordering state would be plausible - someone moving to Ontario, no longer needing the plate and turfing it away. Also consider that any cross-border cartage company would have required a license for the US side of the business, if one was mandated. Unfortunately this plate could remain a mystery for a very long time - without any photos or documentation it may never be resolved as there's nothing on the plate to suggest where it is from. Sorry that I could not be of any real help in this situation. - Joe Sallmen(Author of 'Ontario License Plates - A Century of History' published in 2003/04)."

 The mystery continues..


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