I was cleaning out a barn last week and ran across this plate. I have no clue if it’s legit or a fantasy and thought someone on here may be able to help. I didn’t want to discard it if it was real. It looks to me like a plate for a 1 horse wagon in Cincinnati. I know in the late 1800’s and the early 1900s Cincy’s wagon building industry was the biggest in the world. I have seen some of these plates years ago but never made of this type of tin metal. Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

I was hoping someone would know more about this?
I find it fascinating that local governments would take it upon themselves to license horse drawn wagons?
Wouldn't they have been shocked if they could have glanced forward into 2018!

It's Tax money for the city. If you did business inside the city you had to buy a license. It could be a milk wagon or sales of some kind. It took a lot of work to make that license plate, you could get ahold of a license plate club in the Cinti.Oh. area to get more information.Good Luck Todd

I asked a knowledgeable license plate collector. this was his response about it.


It's pretty straightforward about what this is for. Its a 1912 Cincinnati 1 horse wagon. Cincinnati made a long series of these starting in 1898 being the oldest one known. I have no idea what the last year was. I've never seen a painted one; they're all brass or copper.

I don't know what value it has, but it's not junk that's for sure. I would try to find similar items on eBay. My guess is $50 to $100, but I really don't know that much about these. It might be more.

Hope this helps.

Here is a 1912 Vancouver plate for drays and express wagons that I found on the net. I guess if you ran a business that mainly used the roads in certain municipalities you had to be specially licensed whether you were horse or gas powered.