I know that this has nothing to do with the Ford Anglia specifically, except for the fact that in Nova Scotia,
every car has to have a unique registration plate (commonly known as a Licence plate)
(I will only cover the period of time that the Ford Anglia was available to buy brand new.)

… but first a very brief bit of History ...

The province of Nova Scotia started registering motor vehicles in 1907. There was a one time only fee of $5 to register your vehicle and for that, the motorist was provided with a numbered registration certificate and a four inch diameter aluminum disc carrying the registration number, which was to be mounted on the dashboard. It was then the responsibility of each owner to make or have made his own licence plate. The plates usually consisted of a flat piece of wood or metal with the numbers painted on. Some owners used house numbers and fastened them to the plates and some even went to the expense of having porcelain plates made. The majority of these plates also bore the province initials “NS” as a vertical suffix. Registration numbers for these "home-made" plates were assigned sequentially on a permanent basis from 1907 through to 1917

In 1918 annual registration was required as well as an annual fee, and the Provincial Government began issuing licence plates directly to motorists. All licence plates that had been in use from 1907 to 1917 were now considered invalid. The new licence plates were all numeric and could be up to 5 digits in length. An interesting side note is that Nova Scotia used to drive on the left hand side of the road until 15th April 1923, when they switched to driving on the right.

The numbering system of the licence plate was changed in 1941 to a 1.23.45 format. This format carried on until 1952 when the numbering system was altered to take in to account the increase in registrations. These could still be in the 1.23.45 format or the new 12.34.56 format.

The Period the Ford Anglia was Available (1959 - 1968)

As previously described above, your new 1959 Ford Anglia 105E would have been issued with a registration certificate and licence plate. The licence plate would be changed every year in exchange for an annual licence fee. The licence plates would have been made of embossed steel and look similar to the following:

1959 Black letters on a yellow background with the words "Nova Scotia ' 59" above the number.
1960 Light yellow letters on a black background with the words "Nova Scotia ' 60" below the number.
1961 There was no licence plate issued for 1961. Instead the owner got to keep their 1960 plate, which was used in conjunction with a red 1961 Window Sticker.
1962 Black letters on a light yellow background with the words "Nova Scotia ' 62" above the number.
1963 There was no licence plate issued for 1963. Instead the owner got to keep their 1962 plate, which was used in conjunction with a yellow 1963 Window Sticker.
1964 Yellow letters on a black background with the words "Nova Scotia ' 64" above the number.
1965 There was no licence plate issued for 1965. Instead the owner got to keep their 1964 plate, which was used in conjunction with a green 1965 Window Sticker.
1966 Black letters on a light yellow background with the words "Nova Scotia" and 66" below the number. The year is debossed within an embossed panel in the lower right hand corner.
1967 There was no licence plate issued for 1967. Instead the owner got to keep their 1966 plate, which was used in conjunction with a white 1967 Sticker fitted centrally at the bottom of the plate.
1968 There was no licence plate issued for 1968. Instead the owner got to keep their 1966 plate, which was used in conjunction with a red 1968 Sticker fitted centrally at the bottom of the plate..

The Period after the Ford Anglia went out of Production

In Nova Scotia the Licence Plate usually stays with the owner and not the vehicle. Therefore the vehicle itself can have many different licence plates fitted to it during its lifespan, if it is transferred frequently from one owner to another. Therefore the Ford Anglia could very easily be fitted with a much newer plate than those shown above.

A new coloured licence plate was issued for 1969 that had the year in the left hand bottom corner and a space in the right hand bottom corner that was used for a validation sticker in 1970 and 1971.
The design of the licence plate was completely redesigned in 1972 and was not changed every year.

1972 This licence plate featured the 12.34.56 numbering systemand was now reflective with blue lettering. It featured the words Nova Scota avove the number and "Canada's Ocean Playground" below the number. The plate needed to be validated every year with a sticker in the top corner. (Left hand corner for even years and right hand corner for odd years)

The numbering format was altered yet again in 1980 to ABC 123.
Like the previous plate this also needed to be validated with a sticker every year.
The design of this licence plate was redesigned in 1989.

1989 The numbering format stayed as ABC 123, but the plate now featured the Bluenose schooner as a background image on the plate. It was awarded "Plate of the Year" for best new licence plate of 1989 by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, the first and, to date, only time Nova Scotia has been so honored.

This style of licence plate design is still in use at present.

The present system also allows for a special licence plate to be issued to "Antique Autos".

Antique Auto This plate is issued to vehicles that are over thirty years old, which allows the vehicle to be taxed at a lower rate compared to a normal vehicle, but it does carry with it certain restrictions on the vehicles use.

Like the normal Nova Scotia vehicle licence plate, the "Antique Autos" plate is allocated to the owner and is not changed every year. Upon payment of the yearly registration fee, the motorist receives a sticker showing the expiry date of December of that year, which is affixed to one of the top corners of the plate.

Since 1997 licence plates need only be fitted to the rear of the vehicle, which needs to be illuminated.

So there you have it, a brief history of the Nova Scotia licence plate over the span of the Ford Anglia’s production.

(Article Copyright © MellY Designs - Please do not Reproduce without Permission)