1981 - 1982 Issued License Plates
The islands went back to blue on yellow in 1981 and is the first series to be produced entirely in the Bahamas. Although the colors are similar to the 1976 issue, plates made for this series had narrow bolt slots. Plates which had been previously turned into the government were also reissued in 1981. The reissued plates predominantly consisted of turned in 1976 issues, but as you will see below, also consisted of the 1978 issue. The 1976 reissued plates can lead to confusion in determining if a '76 plate was also used in 1981. The only way to tell would be to know when the plate came off the island, however a second set of bolt holes is a good telltale indication that the plate was mounted twice on a vehicle - once in 1976 and a second time in 1981.
Male Die Press
Hand-painted Embossed
Some plates were hand-painted, leading to more legible lettering. This Inagua plate used a slightly different blue that normally found on the 1981 plates. Such is the Bahamas...
Male-Female Die Press
A new male-female die press that used medium sized lettering was introduced part way through the series leading to much cleaner plates. It is believed that only Nassau and Grand Bahama received plates using this new press during the 1981-1982 issue.
Reissued 1976 Plates
Turned in or unused 1976 plates not reissued in 1978 were reissued in 1981. In the above example, the wide bolt slots indicate that it was originally issued in 1976. However, there are two sets of hand-drilled bolt holes, indicating that there is a high probability this was re-issued in 1981. The first set of bolt holes were probably done when the plate was originally mounted in 1976, the second set when the plate was re-mounted in 1981.
Reissued 1976/1978 Plates
Some 1976 plates reissued in 1978 (thus were repainted red on cream) where painted back to blue on yellow and again reissued in 1981. In the photo above, you will see what appears to be a 1976 made plate (after all, it has the correct colors, right?). Looking closely, you will see that there are hints of red on the borders and a painted over sticker, meaning that this was a 1976 issue, painted and issued in 1978-1980, and then painted back in 1981.
Reissued 1978 Plates
1978 plates repainted for 1981 exist (shown above), but are very rare.
Hand-painted Flats
Although rare, flats were issued. Again, the lettering follows the style used in the 1976 plates.
Off Color Paint
My first inclination was that these were repainted in 1987 made from used 1983 issues. However, all of these came off the islands in late 1982 and both the flats and embossed plates have matching colors (in the above example, the left-hand side of the Mayaguana plate has the original coloring). Thus, it's been concluded that these were painted by the DMV in 1981.