Bicycle Number Plate - BSN54

Bicycle number plates go back to the early 1900's when the "Uniform Bicycle Tax" was introduced into the WA Traffic Act in 1913, to replace regional schemes such as those which Cue and Coolgardie already had. Due to an oversight, the legislation was not in set in place until 1917. The amount of tax due was two shillings and six pence (approx 25c). This was considered too high and several protest meetings were held across the metropolitan area.

The plates issued were different colours for each year, and the following is a partial list:

White or silver on red - 1939
Black on yellow - 1940, 1949, 1954, 1960
Black on white - 1941,1945, 1952, 1958
White on green - 1942
White on black - 1917, 1944, 1950
Silver on red - 1948, 1953, 1959
White on blue- 1951, 1957, 1963
Silver on green - 1955, 1961
Black on silver - 1956, 1962
Silver on black - unknown
Blue on white - unknown

Early motor bike number plates seem to have been very small in size but these were made larger after registering bicycles became more prevalent.

(Reference: thanks to WA Historical Cycle Club for the researched information, and to Merv Thompson for the colour listings)