Gus Oliver has always had a penchant for collecting. “The first thing I collected was barbed wire, then moved into bottles and jars and other antiques,” he says. Then one day, Oliver was going through family items in a barn, and found two license plates that belonged to his grandfather. “I was fascinated with them, and when I could find them I would get them,” he says. “I wasn’t collecting real strongly until I found eBay and found I could get all the license plates I wanted there, and kinda almost went hog wild to start with. I discovered I had three of the same thing, after I inventoried it.”
Oliver now has his collection highly organized, utilizing a sophisticated inventory system.
Housed in a 2,000 square feet warehouse, Oliver has 2,000 license plates in his personal collection, and an even more impressive 25,000 plates in inventory which are for sale. Included in his amazing assortment are plates from all 50 states, all the Canadian provinces, most U.S. territories and a multitude of countries.
Oliver has the largest known collection of Oklahoma license plates in the world. He said he originally had the third-largest collection but he managed to buy out the largest collection, thus making his collection the largest.
When asked how much these collectibles fetch, he said collectors may pay anywhere from $2 to $25,000 for a license plate. Oliver told the Sapulpa Times that the most he had paid for a plate was $2,000 for a 1933 “25” Alaska license plate. As is the case with stamps and coins, printing errors and rarity of the plates help determine the value to a collector.
Oliver is a member of the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA). It is an organization founded in 1954 dedicated to the promotion of license plate collecting, research, the exchange of information and plates, and the benefits of sharing a common interest with people all over the world.
Shelves of boxes filled with license plates separated by year and state fill Oliver’s warehouse.
ALPCA is the largest license plate collectors organization in the world, and has nearly 3,000 members in all 50 states and 19 countries. Annual international conventions are usually attended by 500 collectors, and the organization hosts dozens of smaller regional events throughout the country.
One type of Oklahoma plate in his collection stood out and was in fact rather puzzling. The plate simply says “sample.” Oliver explained that when a new plate design is issued, a sample of the new license plate is sent to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. This plate was one such sample.
Oliver pointed out a very rare Oklahoma plate—a 1973 Oklahoma Dealer plate. There was a riot in the state penitentiary that year, and it resulted in a shortage of plates, since they are manufactured by prisoners at that facility. The 1973 plate in his collection is the only known survivor.
Oliver also has a number of plates issued to past Oklahoma Governors and Lieutenant Governors, as well as a 2013 plate stamped “2,” issued to then Vice-President Joe Biden.
Oliver is unquestionably the leading expert on the history of Oklahoma license plates. He has published a book titled “Oklahoma License Plate History,” a comprehensive illustrated dissertation on the history of license plates in our great state.
Oliver has also designed a specialty tag that could be issued by the state if at least 200 people request the tag. Advance orders can be placed by sending Oliver an email at tulsatag@yahoo.com.
