DOVER, Del.- Long lines could be found outside of Delaware DMV offices before they opened on Tuesday as customers sought to purchase five-digit tags that can be used to obtain coveted black license plates.
The DMV periodically releases five-digit tags that have become available. If the digits fall under the number 87,000, then the owner can have a street-legal black and white reproduction produced for his or her vehicle.
Typically seen as a status symbol, black plates were originally seen on vehicles registered in Delaware starting in the early 1900s. At the time, cars were expensive and typically owned by wealthy or significant people. Single-digit and two-digit tags have been sold in auctions for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"It's kind of frivolous and vain and all that stuff but I just kind of like 'em. I got a black and gray trim on my car. I thought it would look good," said Gerritt Wetherall of Dover, who purchased a five-digit tag.
A black-and-white variation of stainless steel plates produced by the Delaware Historic Plate Company can be placed on cars with tag numbers that fall below 200000.
As of late Tuesday morning, the DMV reported that it had sold all of its five-digit tags at each of its offices aside from the one in Dover.
