Pre-1976 License Plates
Nassau - 1914 - 1950's - Porcelain
New Providence issued porcelain plates that were white on black with "Nassau Bahamas" along the bottom. These had very thin dies and had up to a four digit serial.
Nassau - 1950's - 1960's - Porcelain
Porcelain continued to be issued and had several different styles ranging from bordered to borderless, with "Nassau Bahamas" either stacked or along the bottom. The dies used for these plates are traditionally thicker than the earlier plates and use a larger font.
Out Islands - Porcelain
Islands other than New Providence were issued white on green porcelain plates. It is unclear when plates for the remaining Bahamas islands were produced, but judging by the font size, it would probably be around the same time that Nassau shifted to the thicker dies, so in the 40's and 50's. These plates were issued up to the three thousands.
Nassau - 1950's - 1960's - Metal
Plate manufacturing also shifted to metal during this era of plates. Like the porcelain plates, there were numerous styles of plates. This also showed the first time that European sized plates were produced. Plates started as four digit, numeric-only. When this run had been fully issued, the island designation "N" (standing for New Providence) was introduced. When "N" was exhausted, "NP" was introduced. When the "N" and "NP" numbers ran out, a sequential letter suffix was introduced, starting with "NP A", "NP B", and moving on.
Hand-Painted Steel
Embossed Steel
Riveted Numbers
Out Islands - Metal
Like Nassau, production moved from porcelain to metal, with several styles of plates made. Embossed plates were produced up to the nine thousands.
1960's - 1975 Nassau - Plexiglass with "N" and "NP" Prefix
Starting in the 60's, plate manufacturing then moved to a plexiglass style and started moving back to the U.S 12x6 size.
Out Islands - Town / Island Designations
In the late sixties, the registrations for the Out Islands moved over to a prefixed system. Prefixes were either the entire island, or individual village if multiple were on the same island. These were usually flat metal and hand-painted or stencilled. The following are the known prefixes:
The Bight - Cat Island (B or TB)
Bimini (BI)
Eleuthera (E, EL)
\
Exuma (EX)
Freeport - Grand Bahama (F)
Fresh Creek - Andros (FC)
Governor's Harbour - Eleuthera (GH)
Inagua (IN)
Kemp's Bay - Andros (KB)
Long Island (LI)
Marsh Harbour - Abaco (MH)
Nicholl's Town - Andros(NT)
Rock Sound - Eleuthera (RS)
Spanish Wells (SP)
The above plate was found in Spanish Wells
Sandy Point - Abaco (?)
San Salvador (SS)
Tarpum Bay - Eleuthera (TR)
West End - Grand Bahama (WE)
Unknown Town
This could be from a few places - suggestions have included George Town (Exuma), Gregory Town (Eleuthera), or Green Turtle Cay (Abaco).
Truck License Plates
Truck plates typically had no island designation, simply a "T" prefix.
White on black plates would have been issued in Nassau.
White on Green plates would have been issued to the Out Islands
However, true to form, there are oddities out there.
 Truck license plate issued in Fresh Creek, Andros. |
 Unknown issue. |
Government License Plates
Government plates started out white on black with 'Government' on the plate
They then moved to white on red.
Non-Passenger Plates
Interesting oddities
Above is a Governor's Harbor issued licese plate on the front and an Eleuthera Rental Car plate on the back
Great Harbour Cay (which is part of the Berry Islands) and a Nichols Town (Andros Island) on the back