Sunday, May 24, 2009

Tag 7!

Oh wow! Alright so I've been down Rehoboth since yesterday hangin' with the Stellas. Today, as I was coming home form a tag hunt, I turned onto Rt. 24 W. As I crossed over Plantations Rd., I saw that there was bumper-to-bumper traffic. I also noticed a Lincoln Towncar in the driveway on the left with tag 103 on the back.

I immediately pulled over to the shoulder and put my car in reverse. I wanted to get as close to the tag as possible. Because of the traffic, I had to wait a little bit to turn around but it was worth it. In the same driveway was an old Cadillac backed in. As I was walking up to the house (I wanted to give him one of my cards) I remembered that the guy who has 103 also has...


UGH! I cannot tell you how excited I was!!! What an accomplishment!!!

There are a few other good tags from the weekend but you'll have to wait until Monday to see them ;)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Delaware Tags Explained, Part 2

Market Values

Numeric tags are the most valuable of all tags no matter where you live. In New Castle County, it goes numeric, PC, and then C. In Kent and Sussex counties, it goes numeric, C, and then PC. Having said that, here's a little table of what your tag could be worth.


5-Digit4-Digit3-Digit2-Digit1-Digit
Numeric$300-$2k$2k-$15k$15k-$125k$125k-$500k$500k+
PC-$500-$1,500$4k-$20k$35k-$75k$75k+
C-$750-$2,500k$5k-$12k$40k-$65k$65k+


This is great and good, but you may be asking yourself "Well what about all the other kinds of tags?". I have developed a 4-tiered system to answer all of your questions. Tier 1 is where most of the money is and Tier 4 are ordinary specialty license plates. Take a look...

Tier 1 - Numeric, PC, C

Tier 2 - D (Dealer), MC (Motorcycle), Moped

Tier 3 - UD (University of Delaware), DU (Ducks Unlimited)

Tier 4 - AKA (Alpha Kappa Alpha), AL (American Legion), APA (Alpha Phi Alpha), CA (Caravel Academy), CC (Southern DE Street Rod Association), CHS (Conrad High School), CP (Retired New Castle County Police), CU (Credit Union), DAR (Delaware Association of Realtors), DAV (Disabled American Veterans), DMS (DE Mobile Surf Fishermen), DSO (DE Senior Olympics), DST (Delta Sigma Theta), DSU (DE State University), DV (DE Veterans), Ex-POW, ELK (Elks Lodge), FB (Farm Bureau), FHS (Felton HS), FOP (Fraternal Order of Police), G (Groove Phi Groove), GBC (Goldey Beacom College), HHS (Harrington HS), JHU (John's Hopkins University), K (Kappa Alpha Psi), KC (Knights of Columbus), KP (King's Point), KWV (Korean War Veteran), LA (Ladies Auxiliary), LC (Lion's Club), LE (DE Correctional Officer), LM (Loyal Order of Moose), MCL (Marine Corps League), MM (Masonic Mason), ND (Notre Dame), NG (National Guard), NHS (Newark HS), NIA (Nanticoke Indian Association), NRA (National Rifle Association), NUR (Nur Shrine), OES (Order of the Eastern Star), OSU (Ohio State University), P (Perdue University), PBS (Phi Beta Sigma), PH (Purple Heart), PHA (Prince Hall Affiliated), PHS (Pearl Harbor Survivor), PS (Penn State), QUE (Omega Psi Phi), RF (Reserve Forces), RM (Retired Military), SA (Salesianum Alumni), SJ (St. Joe's University), SOA (Standard Breeder's Association), SP (Retired State Police), TP (Telephone Pioneers), TU (Temple University), UAW (United Auto Workers), UM (University of Michigan), UP (University of Pennsylvania), V (Military Medal Winner), VF (Volunteer Fireman), VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), VT (Virginia Tech), VU (Villanova University), VV (Vietnam Veteran), W (Wesley College), WFD (Wilmington Fire Dept.), WPD (Wilmington Police Dept.), Ham Radio Call Signs (e.g. A2R9B)

(Thanks to the DE DMV for this.)

In terms of what I collect, I collect 1-1000 of any of the Tier 1 plates and the #1 of any of the Tier 2-4 plates. I know it sounds like I'm picky - that's because I am!

Having said THAT, there is another layer to all of this - what kind of tag you have. Let me give you an example. If you have PC100 and you have the original stainless tag from the 1950s, you can bet it will sell for more than if you just had the new blue & gold tag. Same thing goes with porcelain (i.e. black & white) tags.

Please email me with any and all questions - I will be happy to talk with you!

Email: jordan.irazabal@gmail.com
AIM: j0rdaniraz (that's a zero after the 'j')

Saturday, May 9, 2009

I Love Networking

So yesterday (Friday 5/8) I took my car up to Paul's to get checked out and get the oil changed. He told me I needed front brakes, which I knew. HE did an oil change for me and that was that.

While I was sitting there, waiting for the oil change, Paul was talking to these two guys - a father-and-son-looking duo. Turned out to actually be father and son. Long story short, the father, Andy, had seen my website - he got it from John Atkins. We talked for a while and exchanged information. He knows the guy who has #8 and told me he would call him and arrange for me to meet him! That's pretty exciting!

His wife pulled up a few minutes later with C32 on the back so I got to get that!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

PC607

Was coming home from the parents house and spotted PC607 coming over the Canal Bridge. I know it's not the greatest picture but it was through my windshield while it was raining.

The Quest for Updated Pictures

It's about time to start updating pictures. This is quite a daunting task - I estimate that over half of my current pictures should be replaced (due to poor quality, blurry, too far away, etc.). At this point you're probably thinking to yourself "How the heck is he going to remember which ones need to be replaced and which ones don't?". Well my method is simple - unless I'm 100% sure that the picture I have of that particular tag is fine, I'll simply retake it. i ordered a really good camera with 10X optical zoom so that should help.

Trip to the DMV

Yesterday I went to the Wilmington DMV to renew my tags for two years. When I got to the second checkpoint, I was talking with the guy there and asked him if any good tags ever came by. He showed me the computer system they have - you just type the license plate number in and it shows you all the information you could ever want. I really need to get that software haha. He plugged #10 in there and then #16 - coincidentally I know both of the owners - and they're related! What are the chances?

Monday, May 4, 2009

ALPCA, C93

As of last night, I am an official member of ALPCA! I should be getting all my literature in the mail soon...

Saw this as I was leaving the DMV today.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Little Update

Hey All,

Now that I have 5 seconds of free time, I'd like to provide you with some small updates.

> The website is up! I am still working on some cool features but the main parts are fully functional.

> I am in the process of joining ALPCA - the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association. My friend Reid turned me on to it so I figured I would give it a try. The meets are usually far away but they should definitely be fun!

> I ordered my beach/lighthouse tag and will be ordering my centennial tag soon. I am actually going to get two centennial tags and keep one sealed for sale at a [much] later date.

> I have been pretty avid on eBay, looking for good Delaware tags. I have decided to be more focused on DE tags; in particular, DE tags that are rare and/or special.

That's all I can remember now. More to come later!

ji