I was just given an Alco number plate and am hoping that perhaps somebody here might be able to identify it.

It has the date 1918 embossed on the bottom and the number 8 in the center. The numeral however does not look to be the original as this one is quite plain compared to what normally would have come from the factory. I believe that the original number 8 was turned off in a lathe by a subsequent owner.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

Photos might help.

I'm by no means a plate expert, but unless the number plate has any other marks or stampings, it'd be pretty hard to track down it's provenance. It could be any one of the likely many "No. 8's" Alco built in 1918. And if the original number was really replaced with an 8 at some point, that makes it even harder. Hopefully someone else may know more but it's a really cold trail without concrete or meaningful evidence.

Thank you for the reply...and you may be quite right, I knew this would not be an easy quest.

Nonetheless, I am very happy to have the plate. It took me until I was around 67 to acquire my first spot plate. I now have 6.