NOVA SCOTIA SAMPLES SPECIMENS AND CONCEPT PLATES

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In addition to licence plates issued for actual use on vehicles, most jurisdictions also produce other plates not authorized for use on vehicles.
Originally these were samples produced to provide to other licencing authorities so that each knows what the others are producing, and for law enforcement purposes
More commonly however, these are available to the general public as collectibles. Most commonly these samples are produced only in passenger plate
varieties, but other types are possible.

The subtle differences between samples and specimens might be considered not worth dividing them into the two categories. I have chosen to do so.

Specimens and concept plates may be produced on the request of the "DMV" to explore and consider new patterns and materials,
or even possible new types of plates. This type of plate may also be produced by the manufacturers in order to promote
business contracts with the authorities.

No doubt there are various definitions of what sample plates are, and how they are different from specimen plates. I am sure I do not
have the authoritative definition, but basically it can be said that samples are produced in appreciable quantities for distribution of some sort.
This distribution could be limited to a sharing with other jurisidictions or might be more generalized and open to whomever wants one.
Today in Nova Scotia, sample plates are available to anyone who is willing to pay the fee that goes with them. Currently in this province, and in
most jurisdictions samples are limited to the passenger type. Specimen plates are produced in smaller quantities and generally as examples of current plates, to be used internally by the jurisdiction for reference or display purposes, or may be concepts being considered but not adopted.
Neither samples nor specimens are to be mounted on vehicles, and therefore some purists might consider them to not be true licence plates at all. I have certainly not "gone after" samples, but this is more to do with cost than anything else, but I do have some shown below.

SAMPLE PLATES Nova Scotia samples began to be produced in 1928, or at least that is the earliest known year. While it is uncertain in years gone by, it does seem that actual samples were normally only produced for the basic passenger type of plate. Samples of other types seem to have been produced at times and in small quantities but these may in fact be specimens, rather than samples. Certainly it is true in 2022 that if you request a sample licence plate in Nova Scotia, you will get a passenger plate. Sample plates originally were produced by jurisdictions all across North America with the main purpose being to trade with other states and provinces so that everyone knew what were the legitimate current plates. In many or most jurisdictions these were also available to anyone on request, with or without a fee. Samples were introduced in Nova Scotia back in the twenties and are still issued today. Nowadays there is a charge of approximately $10 for one of these. In this province, until the introduction of alphanumeric passenger plates in 1979, the sample simply had zeroes, but the number of zeroes has varied. Since 1979 the serial has been SAM-000, but with a variety SAMPLE intended to depict what a vanity plate would look like. In 1950 and 1951 sample plates had the word "SAMPLE" embossed above or below the zero serial. Otherwise these plates differ from regular plates only in the serial itself. I have not up to recently been much interested in collecting samples, but this has changed as I have seen the values put on the older ones. For now, what you see below is my small accumulation,



1972 base sample	Presumably there was a 1975 base sample, with the reflectorized background
With the advent of the alphanumeric passenger plates the sample format was changed to SAM 000. Some runs of SAMPLE have also been produced. 1979 Alphanumeric Sample.
	This type of sample plate has been described to me as being part of a special batch intended as a specimen of a vanity plate
Borderless type dating from 2011 (still in the wrap)	Unlike the SAMPLE shown above, this run of borderless SAMPLE plates has been described to me as a "mistake". (still in the wrap)

CONCEPT & SPECIMEN PLATES In most jurisdictions there are ideas floated re new designs for main stream plates as well as specialty plates that honour or commemorate causes or organizations. There may also be proposals for new components (such as plate or coating materials), colours and fonts. These ideas may be advanced to the level of producing a limited number of specimens. This process can be at the instigation of the issuing authority, or from manufacturers attempting to increase their business. These differ from samples in that there are only very few of each type produced, and these are not for general distribution to other agencies or to the public. In Nova Scotia there have been several plates of this type produced, with some leading to actual issuance as official plates. For the purposes of this website I am referring to these plates collectively as "administrative concept specimen plates". Perhaps the most common type of specimen in Nova Scotia has been the type demonstrating proposals for special events such as royal visits and similar. I do not have any of these in my collection but they are known to exist for the Pope's visit and at least one royal visit.

The examples above are both intended to demonstrate to NS RMV the proposed high definition background sheeting that was eventually adopted and introduced at GCY001. As is obvious, the first is a blank, with no embossing or debossing, whereas the second is intended to show what a complete plate would look like. AAA000 is not a valid serial to be actually issued. Note that AAA001 was the first "real" plate issued when alphanumeric plates began in 1979. This AAA000 does NOT predate that and the same specimen serial may have been produced more than once, for different purposes over the years. This iteration of AAA000 was produced sometime around 2017 or thereabouts (rough estimate).



Above: Concept plates for the Acadian Heritage specialty plate. Top left is the Acadian flag. Top right is the Acadian star. Bottom left is the Grand-Pre church. Bottom right is the statue of Evangeline. These four designs were put to a public vote, with the flag concept winning. In the resulting issued plate the English and French slogans were interchanged top and bottom.


This pair of concept plates was manufactured in possible anticipation of Nova Scotia joining the North American trend of issuing plates to show affiliation to various teams, schools, causes and organizations. This particular concept did not move forward.

SPECIAL EVENT PLATES
Special event plates have been issued in Nova Scotia on a number of occasions.
These include at least a couple of Royal Visits, and most likely also the visit by Pope John Paul II in 1984.
THESE SPECIAL EVENT PLATES ARE NOT NORMAL LICENCE PLATES.
THEY ARE NOT REGISTERED TO INDIVIDUAL VEHICLES AND ARE MOUNTED ONLY FOR A VERY SHORT DURATION
IN ORDER TO GAIN ACCESS TO VENUES OR SIMPLY TO BECOME SOUVENIRS.
IT IS UNCLEAR AS TO WHETHER THEY WERE MOUNTED OVER TOP OF THE REGULAR PLATE ON THE VEHICLE in the days when there was a front plate

This is an example of the special event plates issued for the G7 Summit held in Halifax in 1995.
This was a huge event for Halifax as it included the political leaders of the USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Japan, and of course Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
This plate is unused, and this does add to the belief that many more were produced than there were vehicles needing them.
I have seen one numbered in the upper 300 range.

Royal Visits
There have been many visits by the Royal Family since the advent of
licence plates in Nova Scotia. I do not know when the first special plates
were produced for such visits. It is likely that a red plate with crest was
used in Nova Scotia in 1951 for Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip (yet to become Queen).
Such plates were used in other provinces.

I DO NOT own this plate issued
for the Queen's visit in 1976. This image
is of a plate in a Halifax-area collection.

The Queen also visited in 1994 and 2010, and
previously in 1959.

Other royal visits in the 80's and later that may have plates include:
1983 Prince and Princess of Wales (Charles and Diana)
1985 Prince Andrew (Duke of York)
1987 Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex)
1988 Princess Margaret
1991 Princess Anne (the Princess Royal)
2014 Prince of Wales & Duchess of Cornwall (Charles and Camilla)