vehicles 0.4.1 → 0.8.0

data/data/plates/mc.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,1024 @@
+# plates/mc.yml — Monaco (PRD-PLATES gate L1, microstates group).
+# DRAFT for verification. All primary text fetched from legimonaco.mc and the
+# Journal de Monaco archive, 2026-08-02.
+#
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# MONACO IS A SOVEREIGN STATE AND ITS PLATES ARE ITS OWN. It is not part of
+# France, not in the EU, and registers vehicles under its own law through the
+# Service des Titres de Circulation. It IS in customs union with France — the
+# "convention douanière franco-monégasque du 13 mai 1963", cited by name in the
+# plate instrument itself — and it acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on
+# Road Traffic in its own right (ratified 6 June 1978, in force for Monaco
+# 6 June 1979).
+#
+# THE TWO-INSTRUMENT STRUCTURE, which is the key to reading this file:
+#   * Ordonnance Souveraine n° 1.691 du 17 décembre 1957 portant réglementation
+#     de la police de la circulation routière (the Code de la route), JdM du
+#     30 décembre 1957 — REQUIRES plates and DELEGATES their design. Art. 94:
+#     "Les plaques d'immatriculation sont remises aux propriétaires de véhicules
+#     automobiles par le Service des titres de la circulation suivant les
+#     modalités prescrites par un arrêté du Ministre d'État qui en détermine
+#     également le modèle et le mode de pose." The Code de la route therefore
+#     says NOTHING about format, colour or dimensions. Looking there first and
+#     finding nothing is the expected result, not a failed search.
+#   * Arrêté Ministériel n° 78-5 du 9 janvier 1978 relatif à l'immatriculation
+#     des véhicules automobiles, JdM n° 6279 du 27 janvier 1978 — IS the plate
+#     instrument. Art. 6 is the series catalogue and is the backbone of this
+#     file.
+# BOTH the current consolidated text and the ORIGINAL 1978 gazette printing
+# were read, which is what makes the dating below possible.
+#
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# FIVE FINDINGS THAT CORRECT THE SECONDARY ACCOUNTS
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The English-language secondary account of Monegasque plates carries no
+# citations at all, and the primary text contradicts it on four points. Each is
+# recorded here because a consumer will otherwise meet the wrong version.
+#
+# 1. THE INSTRUMENT-DATE RULE. AM 78-5 is dated 9 January 1978 and was
+#    published on 27 January 1978, but its art. 11 reads: "Le présent arrêté
+#    entrera en vigueur le 15 mai 1978, date à laquelle les arrêtés
+#    ministériels n° 58-012 du 7 janvier 1958, n° 66-215 du 29 juillet 1966
+#    modifié par l'arrêté ministériel n° 66-287 du 25 octobre 1966 et n° 76-532
+#    du 3 décembre 1976 seront abrogés." THE SERIES START IS 15 MAY 1978. Three
+#    candidate 1978 dates, and only the instrument distinguishes them.
+#
+# 2. "THE SYSTEM CHANGED IN 1979" IS A MISREADING of a changeover deadline.
+#    Arrêté Ministériel n° 79-114 du 23 mars 1979 consists of one operative
+#    sentence: "L'usage de plaques minéralogiques autres que les plaques en
+#    tôle d'aluminium délivrées en vertu de l'arrêté ministériel n° 78-5 du
+#    9 janvier 1978 susvisé est interdit à compter du 1er mai 1979." That is
+#    the END of the grace period for pre-1978 plates — not a new numbering
+#    system. Nothing about the format changed in 1979.
+#
+# 3. THE "000" PRINCELY PREFIX DOES NOT EXIST IN LAW, and looks like a
+#    corruption of something real. Art. 6's princely série spéciale is
+#    MC01-MC99, MP01-MP99 and PM01-PM99. The only zero-group anywhere in art. 6
+#    is "un groupe de quatre zéros" — 0000 — which is the COLLECTORS' plate
+#    series, not a princely one. Modelled as mc-collection-0000.
+#
+# 4. "THE PRE-1979 SERIES WAS nnnn WW MC" INVERTS THE FACTS. That grammar is
+#    the CURRENT provisional series under art. 6. In 1978 the WW series was the
+#    "Série Transfert", WW 01 to WW 99, with a maximum validity of fifteen
+#    days — a different thing entirely. Both are modelled below so the
+#    difference is visible.
+#
+# 5. "LIGHT BLUE" IS NOT A LEGAL TERM. Art. 6 says "couleur des caractères :
+#    bleue" — plain bleu, never bleu clair. The WHITE GROUND is legally
+#    prescribed (art. 1: "fond blanc réflectorisé, filigrané"), so Monaco's
+#    colours ARE law in a way Liechtenstein's were not until 2021; but the
+#    characteristic pale shade is practice, presumably fixed by the deposited
+#    models, and is recorded as observed.
+#
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# THE BIGGEST GAP: OVERALL PLATE DIMENSIONS ARE NOT PUBLISHED.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# AM 78-5 art. 1 requires plates to be "strictement conformes aux modèles
+# déposés au Ministère d'État" — models physically DEPOSITED at the Ministry of
+# State and not published. The arrêté specifies only component measurements:
+# the rear relief rectangle (90 x 52 mm cars, 60 x 35 mm motorcycles), the
+# front-plate MC letters (at least 16 mm), the estampille MC (20 mm cars, 13 mm
+# motorcycles) and the WW adhesive bands (455 x 85 mm cars, 205 x 100 mm
+# motorcycles). OVERALL WIDTH, HEIGHT AND CHARACTER HEIGHT ARE NOWHERE IN THE
+# LAW. The commonly-cited 340 x 110 mm rear / 260 x 90 mm front is secondary
+# and uncorroborated by any instrument, so NO `design.plate` block in this file
+# asserts a car-plate size. This is the single most valuable target for a
+# follow-up pass.
+#
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# period_evidence VOCABULARY used in this file:
+#   instrument-in-force            the instrument's own commencement date
+#   instrument-in-force-upper-bound  earliest instrument read carrying it
+#   statutory-authority-undated    the statutory authority is certain but its
+#                                  date falls somewhere in an unbisected
+#                                  amendment chain; stated, not guessed
+#   secondary-wikipedia            WIKIPEDIA-DERIVED (mandatory tag)
+#
+# All of these except `secondary-wikipedia` are values already in use across
+# plates/*.yml; the field is open and descriptive, and nothing is coined here.
+#
+# format_evidence VOCABULARY: statutory | secondary-wikipedia | not-established
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+jurisdiction: mc
+authority:
+  name: Service des Titres de Circulation, Principauté de Monaco — Arrêté Ministériel n° 78-5 du 9 janvier 1978
+  url: "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/"
+binding: vehicle
+binding_note: >-
+  Code de la route art. 101: "Le certificat d'immatriculation indiquera le
+  numéro minéralogique assigné au véhicule" — the number is assigned to the
+  VEHICLE. AM 78-5 art. 10, abrogated in 2013 and RESTORED by Arrêté Ministériel
+  n° 2026-226 du 6 mai 2026, adds that the plates "demeurent la propriété de
+  l'État" and that the number "ne peuvent faire l'objet d'aucune cession", with
+  a six-month hold after which "le numéro redevient disponible en vue d'une
+  nouvelle attribution". So: state-owned, vehicle-bound, non-transferable by
+  private act, and REISSUED after six months.
+instrument:
+  code_de_la_route:
+    citation: "Ordonnance Souveraine n° 1.691 du 17 décembre 1957 portant réglementation de la police de la circulation routière"
+    published: "1957-12-30"
+    url: "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/ordonnance/1957/12-17-1.691/"
+    consolidated: "https://legimonaco.mc/code/code-route/"
+    role: "requires the plates and delegates their design; prescribes NO format, colour or dimension"
+  plate_instrument:
+    citation: "Arrêté Ministériel n° 78-5 du 9 janvier 1978 relatif à l'immatriculation des véhicules automobiles"
+    date: "1978-01-09"
+    published: "1978-01-27"
+    gazette: "Journal de Monaco n° 6279"
+    entry_in_force: "1978-05-15"
+    url: "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/"
+    original_printing: "https://jdm.gouv.mc/content/download/70638/1649149/file/JO_1978_J_6279.pdf  # the as-published 1978 text, pp. 66-69"
+    repealed_predecessors: "AM 58-012 du 7 janvier 1958, AM 66-215 du 29 juillet 1966 (mod. AM 66-287 du 25 octobre 1966), AM 76-532 du 3 décembre 1976 — all abrogated on 15 May 1978 by art. 11"
+  amendments_material_to_plates:
+    - "AM 87-217 du 15 avril 1987 — recast arts. 1 and 2"
+    - "AM 2012-334 du 15 juin 2012 — put MC on the FRONT plate and removed the year from the estampille; art. 4: 'Les dispositions du présent arrêté entreront en vigueur le 1er janvier 2013'"
+    - "AM 2013-44 du 23 janvier 2013 — introduced the three-digits-then-letter car grammar, expressly 'en vue de l'augmentation du nombre de numéros d'immatriculation'"
+    - "AM 2025-381 du 17 juillet 2025 — replaced arts. 4 and 5 (estampille and renewal window)"
+    - "AM 2026-226 du 6 mai 2026 — restored art. 10 (state ownership, non-cession, six-month hold)"
+  amendment_chain_note: >-
+    Art. 6 alone carries roughly thirty amending arrêtés between 1985 and 2025.
+    They were NOT individually opened in this pass. The consequence is stated
+    honestly per series: where the 1978 original was read and matches, the start
+    is `instrument-in-force`; where the current text differs from 1978 and the
+    changing instrument was not identified, the start is `not-established`
+    rather than guessed at.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Jurisdiction-wide facts.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+common:
+  display:
+    rule: >-
+      Code de la route art. 91: "Tout véhicule automobile doit être muni de deux
+      plaques dites 'plaques d'immatriculation' portant le numéro
+      d'immatriculation assigné au véhicule en application de l'article 101 de
+      la présente ordonnance ; ces deux plaques doivent être fixées en évidence
+      d'une manière inamovibles à l'avant et à l'arrière du véhicule."
+    trailers: "art. 92 — trailers over 750 kg carry their own rear plate; art. 93 — a light trailer repeats the towing vehicle's plate and it may be removable"
+    lighting: "art. 79 — the rear plate must be lit and legible at 20 m at night"
+    mounting: "AM 78-5 art. 7 (vertical, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, entirely visible) and art. 8 (loaded, the lower edge no less than 30 cm above the ground, or the wheel radius)"
+    source: "https://legimonaco.mc/code/code-route/  # Code de la route arts. 79, 91, 92, 93, 94, 101, 102"
+  material_and_ground:
+    rule: >-
+      AM 78-5 art. 1: "Le numéro d'immatriculation est reproduit d'une manière
+      très apparente sur des 'plaques d'immatriculation' délivrées par le
+      service de la circulation. Ces plaques, en tôle d'aluminium, comportent,
+      sur un fond blanc réflectorisé, filigrané, des inscriptions et un listel
+      recouverts de laque, dont la couleur varie selon les séries définies à
+      l'article 6. Elles doivent être maintenues strictement conformes aux
+      modèles déposés au Ministère d'État."
+    consequence: >-
+      THE COLOUR IS THE SERIES. Monaco's design is constant — white
+      retroreflective watermarked ground, aluminium, lacquered inscriptions and
+      listel — and what varies between series is the CHARACTER COLOUR. Only
+      three values appear across the whole of art. 6: bleu (almost everything),
+      rouge (TT and DPTC), and, in the 1978 original only, vert (diplomatic).
+    source: "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 1"
+  plate_furniture:
+    front:
+      rule: >-
+        AM 78-5 art. 2, current text: "La plaque avant porte un écusson fuselé
+        rouge et blanc en moitié supérieure et comportant, en moitié inférieure,
+        les lettres MC en caractères bleus d'au moins 16 mm sur fond blanc
+        réflectorisé. L'écusson est placé à gauche du numéro d'immatriculation."
+      dating: >-
+        THE FRONT PLATE CHANGED ON 1 JANUARY 2013. In the 1978 original it read:
+        "La plaque avant porte la mention 'Principauté de Monaco' inscrite sur
+        une même horizontale au-dessous du numéro d'immatriculation et sur la
+        partie gauche un écusson fuselé rouge et blanc." So the front carried
+        the LEGEND and no MC until 2013, and carries MC and no legend after.
+        AM 2012-334 art. 4 fixes the date: "Les dispositions du présent arrêté
+        entreront en vigueur le 1er janvier 2013."
+    rear:
+      rule: >-
+        Art. 2: the rear plate carries "Principauté de Monaco" on one horizontal
+        line below the number, and on the left a raised rectangle of 90 x 52 mm
+        (cars, trailers, semi-trailers) or 60 x 35 mm (motorcycles, mopeds and
+        the like), in the same colour as the ground. The rectangle holds the
+        estampille.
+      dating: "the 1978 original gave the rectangle as 95 x 50 mm; it is 90 x 52 mm today"
+    source: "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 2, current and 1978 texts"
+  estampille:
+    what_it_is: >-
+      A self-adhesive plastic stamp in the rear plate's raised rectangle,
+      WITHOUT WHICH THE PLATE IS NOT VALID — art. 4: "Toute plaque arrière […]
+      doit porter obligatoirement, pour être valable, dans le rectangle en
+      relief situé à sa partie gauche, une estampille en matière plastique
+      autocollante". It is renewed annually.
+    current_content: >-
+      Per art. 4 as replaced by AM 2025-381: a red-and-white lozenged escutcheon
+      in the upper part (the white lozenges retroreflective), and in the lower
+      part the letters MC in retroreflective white on blue — 20 mm for cars,
+      13 mm for motorcycles and mopeds.
+    historic_content: >-
+      THE "ANNUM" QUESTION, ANSWERED AND DATED. In the 1978 original the
+      estampille carried, in its lower part, "les deux derniers chiffres du
+      millésime de l'année pendant laquelle la plaque d'immatriculation est
+      valable" — the last two digits of the validity YEAR — plus, at the right,
+      "un rappel perforé à l'aiguille du numéro d'immatriculation de la plaque
+      sur laquelle l'estampille est apposée", a needle-perforated repeat of the
+      registration number for authentication. So a Monegasque rear plate showed
+      a validity YEAR from 15 May 1978 until 31 December 2012, and shows MC from
+      1 January 2013. The needle perforation is gone too.
+    renewal_window: >-
+      Art. 5, as replaced by AM 2025-381: for vehicles already in circulation,
+      "du 1er septembre au 31 décembre de l'année de référence". The 1978
+      original ran "du 1er octobre au 31 décembre".
+    not_part_of_the_serial: >-
+      The estampille is a validity device, not a registration character. It
+      appears in no `pattern` below.
+    source: "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 arts. 4 and 5, current and 1978 texts"
+  country_sign:
+    letters: "MC"
+    rule: >-
+      Monaco acceded to the Convention du 8 novembre 1968 sur la circulation
+      routière in its own right — ratified 6 June 1978, in force for Monaco
+      6 June 1979. Art. 37.1 requires a distinguishing sign on the rear; Annexe
+      3.1 makes it one to three Latin capitals, black on a white ellipse; and
+      Annexe 3.3 is the provision PRD-PLATES §4 flags — "Le signe distinctif ne
+      doit pas être incorporé dans le numéro d'immatriculation, ni apposé de
+      façon telle qu'il puisse créer une confusion avec ce dernier ou nuire à sa
+      lisibilité."
+    honest_limit: >-
+      THE LETTERS "MC" AS MONACO'S NOTIFIED DISTINGUISHING SIGN ARE NOT IN ANY
+      MONEGASQUE INSTRUMENT READ. Under Annexe 3 the sign is notified to the UN
+      Secretary-General, and that notification was not reached. What IS
+      primary-sourced is (a) the treaty obligation to display a sign and (b) the
+      letters MC appearing on the plate and the estampille domestically under
+      AM 78-5 arts. 2 and 4. The inference that the notified sign is also MC is
+      not carried as a sourced claim.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tai/convention/1968/11-08-tai1l000149/  # Vienna Convention 1968, arts. 35, 37 and Annexe 3; Monaco ratification 6 June 1978, in force 6 June 1979"
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 arts. 2 and 4 — MC on the front plate and the estampille"
+  euro_band:
+    present: false
+    evidence: >-
+      A SUPPORTABLE NEGATIVE, unusually. AM 78-5 art. 2 describes the front
+      plate exhaustively (escutcheon plus MC, to the LEFT of the number) and
+      art. 4 the rear estampille exhaustively; neither contemplates a blue band,
+      and art. 1 requires strict conformity to the deposited models. Monaco is
+      not an EU member, so Council Regulation (EC) 2411/98 does not reach it.
+  customs_union:
+    rule: >-
+      Primary-sourced from the plate instrument itself: AM 78-5 art. 6 conditions
+      the TT series on "la convention douanière franco-monégasque du 13 mai
+      1963" and refers to "un pays ne relevant pas du régime d'union douanière
+      franco-monégasque". Monaco is in customs union with France while remaining
+      a separate registering state — the two facts a consumer most often
+      conflates.
+    source: "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, série TT"
+  serial_shape:
+    rule: >-
+      AM 78-5 art. 6 opens: "Le numéro d'immatriculation est constitué par un
+      groupe de chiffres ou de lettres et de chiffres." Monegasque serials are
+      SHORT — four characters is typical and five is the maximum in the ordinary
+      series — which is why Monaco's plates are physically smaller than most
+      European ones.
+    separator: none
+    separator_note: >-
+      No separator glyph is prescribed anywhere in art. 6; the components are
+      described as adjacent groups. Patterns below spell the serial unbroken
+      except where a legend intervenes (the WW provisional series). Regexes
+      accept `[- ]?` at group boundaries so a consumer forgiving punctuation
+      still matches.
+  progression:
+    sequential: not-established
+    rule: >-
+      NO INSTRUMENT STATES that numbers are issued sequentially. Art. 6 gives
+      RANGES, not an allocation order.
+    reissue: >-
+      NON-REISSUE IS AFFIRMATIVELY CONTRADICTED, which matters for any consumer
+      treating a plate as a unique historical key. AM 78-5 art. 10, restored by
+      AM 2026-226, provides that after a maximum six-month hold "le numéro
+      redevient disponible en vue d'une nouvelle attribution". Monegasque
+      numbers are RECYCLED.
+    source: "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/2026/05-06-2026-226/  # AM 2026-226 du 6 mai 2026, restoring AM 78-5 art. 10"
+  emblem:
+    present: true
+    rendered: placeholder
+    rule: >-
+      The "écusson fuselé rouge et blanc" — the lozengy red-and-white shield of
+      the Grimaldi arms — is on the front plate and on the estampille. On the
+      princely série spéciale, "les armoiries princières remplacent l'écusson
+      rouge et blanc et l'estampille". PRD-PLATES §3's placeholder rule applies;
+      no clean licence route to the Grimaldi arms was located.
+  not_modelled:
+    - "NO POLICE SERIES EXISTS IN THE LAW. Art. 6 lists ME (Ministère d'État) and CN (Conseil National) and no Sûreté Publique series at all. The commonly-repeated 'SP + two digits' for police motorcycles has no primary basis located and is NOT modelled — a searched-for negative, not an oversight."
+    - "SÉRIE VÉHICULES DE LOCATION exists in art. 6 (rental vehicles, blue characters, with 'location longue durée' or 'location courte durée' noted on the certificate) but the article prescribes NO distinguishing letter or grammar. Without a grammar there is nothing to model, so it is recorded and omitted."
+    - "SÉRIE VÉHICULES DE COMPÉTITION appears in art. 6 with no grammar stated. Same treatment."
+    - "SÉRIE VÉHICULES DE COLLECTION (vehicles over 30 years old, unmodified) uses the SAME characters as the série normale, with the status noted on the certificate rather than on the plate. It is therefore not a plate series at all and is not modelled. Distinguish it from the 'Plaques de collection' 0000 series, which IS modelled."
+    - "SÉRIE DPTC (delegated/autonomous driving, Titre VII bis) is in art. 6 with red characters and a validity of one year renewable once, but no serial grammar is stated. Recorded and omitted."
+    - "PRE-1978 PLATES ARE NOT MODELLED. AM 78-5 art. 11 names its four repealed predecessors — AM 58-012 du 7 janvier 1958, AM 66-215 du 29 juillet 1966, AM 66-287 du 25 octobre 1966 and AM 76-532 du 3 décembre 1976 — so their numbers and dates are reliable, but none of their TEXTS was read. The Journal de Monaco archive runs back to 1858 and is browsable by year, so all four are recoverable; this is the second-best target for a follow-up pass after the deposited models."
+
+region_encoding: none
+region_encoding_note: >-
+  Monaco encodes no geography. The state is 2 km2 with no subdivisions that
+  appear in a registration; its wards are administrative only.
+
+series:
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # THE SÉRIE NORMALE FOR CARS — THREE grammars, and they are modelled as
+  # three series because their formats differ and one of them has its own,
+  # instrument-dated start.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: mc-standard-numeric
+    class: standard
+    categories: [car, van, truck, bus]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force
+    period_note: >-
+      15 May 1978 — AM 78-5 art. 11. Verified against the ORIGINAL 1978 gazette
+      printing, which already contains "un groupe de quatre chiffres au plus,
+      soit n° 0001 à 9999", so this grammar is original to the instrument and
+      not a later amendment.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "9999"
+      regex: '\A\d{1,4}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6, série normale, automobiles: "un groupe de quatre chiffres au
+        plus soit du n° 0001 au n° 9999". "Au plus" is doing real work — the
+        number may be shorter than four digits, so `\d{1,4}` rather than
+        `\d{4}`. The value 0000 is NOT in this series; it belongs to
+        mc-collection-0000.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed, spec_note: "'fond blanc réflectorisé, filigrané' (art. 1) — the ground IS prescribed, in words; no CIE or RAL value exists" }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      foreground_note: >-
+        Art. 6 says "couleur des caractères : bleue" — plain BLEU. The
+        characteristic pale shade is NOT a legal term; see header finding 5.
+        `hex_basis: observed`, and a verifier should not upgrade it without the
+        deposited models.
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder, position: "left of the number on the front plate (art. 2)" }
+      legend_front: { text: "MC", from: 2013, note: "before 1 January 2013 the front carried 'Principauté de Monaco' instead — see common.plate_furniture.front.dating" }
+      legend_rear: { text: "Principauté de Monaco", position: "below the number" }
+      rear_differs: true
+      rear_differs_note: >-
+        TRUE. The rear plate carries the legend, the raised 90 x 52 mm rectangle
+        and the estampille; the front carries the escutcheon with MC and none of
+        those. Since 2013 the two plates do not even bear the same text.
+      plate: null
+      plate_note: >-
+        NO OVERALL DIMENSIONS ARE ASSERTED. AM 78-5 art. 1 defers to "modèles
+        déposés au Ministère d'État", which are unpublished; the commonly-cited
+        340 x 110 / 260 x 90 mm is secondary and uncorroborated. See the header.
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      THE PLAIN NUMERIC CAR SERIES — up to four digits and nothing else. The
+      original and still the most common Monegasque plate. Its exhaustion is
+      what drove the two lettered grammars below, and AM 2013-44's own title
+      says so: "en vue de l'augmentation du nombre de numéros
+      d'immatriculation".
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6 (série normale, automobiles), art. 1 (material and ground), art. 2 (plate furniture), art. 11 (in force 15 May 1978)"
+      - "https://jdm.gouv.mc/content/download/70638/1649149/file/JO_1978_J_6279.pdf  # the as-published 1978 text confirming this grammar is original"
+
+  - id: mc-standard-letter-prefix
+    class: standard
+    categories: [car, van, truck, bus]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force
+    period_note: >-
+      Also original to AM 78-5 and confirmed in the 1978 gazette printing: "ou
+      une lettre et un groupe de trois chiffres au plus". So Monaco had a
+      lettered car grammar from the start — the 2013 amendment added a THIRD
+      grammar, it did not introduce letters.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "L999"
+      regex: '\A[A-Z]\d{3}\z'
+      regex_strict: '\A[BCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVXY]\d{3}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      charset:
+        letters: [B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, Y]
+        notes: >-
+          Twenty-one letters, enumerated in art. 6. A, I, O, W and Z are absent:
+          Z is expressly RESERVED to the art. 102 residency series (see
+          mc-resident-z), A is the trailer letter (mc-trailer), and I, O and W
+          are excluded — I and O presumably for legibility and W because it is
+          the trade-plate letter. The instrument enumerates without giving
+          reasons; the reservations are visible from the other series.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      LETTER THEN THREE DIGITS — the second car grammar, running B001 to Y999
+      through the enumerated alphabet. Distinguished from mc-standard-numeric by
+      shape alone; both are "série normale" and share every design attribute.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, série normale: 'une lettre et un groupe de trois chiffres au plus, soit n° B001 à n° B999 ; n° C001 à n° C999' and the letter list"
+
+  - id: mc-standard-letter-suffix
+    class: standard
+    categories: [car, van, truck, bus]
+    period: { start: 2013 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force
+    period_note: >-
+      2013, AND THE INSTRUMENT SAYS WHY. This grammar is NOT in the 1978 text —
+      that was checked against the original gazette printing. It was introduced
+      by Arrêté Ministériel n° 2013-44 du 23 janvier 2013, JdM du 1er février
+      2013, whose title is itself dispositive on motive: "modifiant l'arrêté
+      ministériel n° 78-5 […] en vue de l'augmentation du nombre de numéros
+      d'immatriculation". A capacity expansion, dated by its own instrument.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "999L"
+      regex: '\A\d{3}[A-Z]\z'
+      regex_strict: '\A\d{3}[BCDEFGHJKLNPQRSTUVXY]\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      charset:
+        letters: [B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, Y]
+        notes: >-
+          TWENTY letters, one fewer than the prefix series — M IS ABSENT HERE
+          and present there. That asymmetry is in the instrument's two separate
+          enumerations and is not a transcription slip; it is preserved because
+          a suffix M would be the one string that distinguishes a
+          transcription error from a real plate.
+      progression: "art. 6: the letter is taken 'par ordre alphabétique' from the enumerated list"
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      legend_front: { text: "MC" }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      THREE DIGITS THEN A LETTER — the newest car grammar, from 2013, created to
+      expand capacity. A plate of this shape cannot predate 2013, which makes it
+      the only Monegasque serial shape that carries era information. That is a
+      genuinely useful parse-API signal and it rests on a dated instrument.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/2013/01-23-2013-44/  # AM 2013-44 du 23 janvier 2013, amending AM 78-5 art. 6"
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, current consolidated text: 'un groupe de trois chiffres au plus suivi d'une lettre prise, par ordre alphabétique, dans la liste ci-après'"
+
+  - id: mc-resident-z
+    class: standard
+    categories: [car, van]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    period_note: >-
+      The Z reservation appears in the current art. 6. Whether it is original to
+      1978 was not confirmed against the original printing, so 1978 is an UPPER
+      bound rather than a verified start.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "Z999"
+      regex: '\AZ\d{3}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6: "la lettre Z étant réservée aux personnes physiques visées par
+        l'article 102 […] justifiant en nom personnel d'un titre de propriété ou
+        d'un bail à loyer concernant un logement en Principauté." Z is carved
+        OUT of the letter-prefix alphabet for this purpose, which is why
+        mc-standard-letter-prefix's enumeration stops at Y.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      THE Z SERIES — a residency-qualified block, not a vehicle-type one. It is
+      issued to natural persons who qualify under Code de la route art. 102 by
+      showing title to or a lease of a dwelling in the Principality. Modelled
+      separately from mc-standard-letter-prefix because the ELIGIBILITY differs
+      and the letter is expressly reserved, even though the shape is identical.
+      This is the closest thing Monaco has to an encoded fact about the keeper.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, the Z reservation"
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/code/code-route/  # Code de la route art. 102, the registration eligibility conditions"
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # OTHER ORDINARY-SERIES SHAPES.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: mc-motorcycle
+    class: motorcycle
+    categories: [motorcycle, moped]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "LL99"
+      regex: '\A[A-Z]{2}\d{2}\z'
+      regex_strict: '\A(?!MC|MP|PM)[ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVXYZ]{2}\d{2}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      charset:
+        letters: [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z]
+        notes: >-
+          Art. 6: "deux lettres et un groupe de deux chiffres, soit du n° AA01 au
+          n° ZZ99 (sauf MC01 à MC99, MP01 à MP99, PM01 à PM99)". The three
+          excluded pairs are the PRINCELY blocks — so the motorcycle series and
+          the Sovereign Prince's series share one number space, and the
+          exclusion is what keeps them apart. `regex_strict` encodes that with a
+          negative lookahead. I, O and W are absent from the letter list.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_rectangle: { w: 60, h: 35, unit: mm, note: "the motorcycle estampille rectangle, against 90 x 52 mm on cars (art. 2)" }
+      estampille_letters: { h: 13, unit: mm, note: "13 mm for motorcycles and mopeds; 20 mm for cars (art. 4)" }
+      rear_differs: false
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      MOTORCYCLES AND MOPEDS — two letters and two digits, the only ordinary
+      Monegasque shape that leads with two letters. The princely exclusions make
+      this the one series in the file whose grammar is defined partly by
+      subtraction.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6 (motorcycle grammar and letter list), art. 2 (60 x 35 mm rectangle), art. 4 (13 mm estampille)"
+
+  - id: mc-trailer
+    class: trailer
+    categories: [trailer, semitrailer]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "A999"
+      regex: '\AA\d{3}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6: "une lettre et un groupe de trois chiffres au plus, soit du n°
+        A001 au n° A999." The letter is fixed at A, which is why A is absent
+        from the car letter-prefix alphabet. Only trailers over 750 kg carry
+        their own plate; lighter ones repeat the towing vehicle's (Code de la
+        route arts. 92-93).
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_rectangle: { w: 90, h: 52, unit: mm, note: "trailers take the car-sized rectangle (art. 2)" }
+      rear_differs: false
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      TRAILERS over 750 kg. The A block is exactly 999 registrations wide, which
+      is the smallest closed number space in the ordinary Monegasque system.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, remorques"
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/code/code-route/  # Code de la route arts. 92-93"
+
+  - id: mc-collection-0000
+    class: historic
+    categories: [car]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "0000"
+      regex: '\A0000\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        A SINGLE-VALUE SERIES. Art. 6, "Plaques de collection": "un groupe de
+        quatre zéros ; couleur des caractères : bleu." The pattern spells the
+        zeros as literals rather than as 9 tokens, because a 9 token would
+        generate serials this series does not contain.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      THE 0000 PLATE. This is the only four-zero group in Monegasque law, and it
+      is a COLLECTORS' plate — not a princely one. It is modelled precisely
+      because the "000 belongs to the Princely family" claim is so widely
+      repeated: the string that claim half-remembers exists, and it means
+      something else. Distinguish it from the "Série Véhicules de collection"
+      for vehicles over thirty years old, which uses ordinary characters and is
+      not a plate series at all.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, Plaques de collection"
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # STATE AND PRINCELY SERIES.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: mc-princely
+    class: government
+    categories: [car, van]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force
+    period_note: >-
+      Original to AM 78-5, but ONLY IN PART. The 1978 printing gives the
+      princely série spéciale as MC01-MC99 alone; MP and PM were added by a
+      later amendment that was NOT identified among art. 6's roughly thirty
+      amending arrêtés. So the SERIES starts in 1978 and two of its three blocks
+      start at an unpinned later date — recorded rather than smoothed over.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "LL99"
+      regex: '\A[A-Z]{2}\d{2}\z'
+      regex_strict: '\A(?:MC|MP|PM)\d{2}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6, série spéciale: "un groupe de deux lettres, suivi d'un groupe de
+        deux chiffres soit MC01 à MC99, MP01 à MP99 et PM01 à PM99". Shape-
+        identical to the motorcycle series, which is why that series excludes
+        these three pairs by name.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem:
+        present: true
+        rendered: placeholder
+        note: >-
+          THE PRINCELY ARMS REPLACE BOTH the red-and-white escutcheon AND the
+          estampille, front and rear — art. 6: "à l'avant et à l'arrière, les
+          armoiries princières remplacent l'écusson rouge et blanc et
+          l'estampille." So a princely plate needs no annual validity stamp,
+          which is the only exemption of its kind in the system.
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      THE SOVEREIGN PRINCE'S SERIES. Class `government` — these are state
+      vehicles of the head of state, not a personalized or vanity series. Note
+      what the instrument does NOT say: it does not mention "000", and it does
+      not reserve any block to family members by name. See header finding 3.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, série spéciale"
+      - "https://jdm.gouv.mc/content/download/70638/1649149/file/JO_1978_J_6279.pdf  # the 1978 printing, showing MC01-MC99 only"
+
+  - id: mc-government-me
+    class: government
+    categories: [car, van]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "9ME9"
+      regex: '\A\d[- ]?ME[- ]?\d\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6: "un chiffre suivi des lettres 'ME' et d'un chiffre" — the letters
+        sit INSIDE the number, which is unusual and is the only infix grammar in
+        this file. Vehicles in this series are exempt from the Code de la
+        route's registration fees.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      MINISTÈRE D'ÉTAT — the government's own fleet. Distinct from mc-princely
+      (the head of state) and from mc-conseil-national (the legislature), each
+      of which has its own two-letter infix. Monaco is unusual in giving all
+      three branches separately-marked plates.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, Ministère d'État"
+
+  - id: mc-conseil-national
+    class: government
+    categories: [car]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "9CN9"
+      regex: '\A\d[- ]?CN[- ]?\d\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6: "un chiffre, suivi des lettres 'CN' et d'un chiffre", followed by
+        an unusually specific cap: "Il ne peut être attribué que deux numéros
+        d'immatriculation au Conseil National." TWO PLATES, IN THE INSTRUMENT.
+        That is the smallest series in this dataset with an explicit statutory
+        ceiling.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      CONSEIL NATIONAL — Monaco's legislature, capped at two registrations by
+      art. 6 itself. Included because a statutory two-vehicle ceiling is a real,
+      citable fact of the kind this dataset exists to hold, and because a parse
+      API meeting a CN plate should know the series is essentially closed.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, Conseil National"
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR — where the 1978 text and the current text differ
+  # in COLOUR, and the change is undated.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: mc-diplomatic-cd
+    class: diplomatic
+    categories: [car, van]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "CD99L"
+      regex: '\ACD[- ]?\d{1,3}[- ]?[A-Z]\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6, current: "les lettres 'CD' suivies d'un numéro d'identification
+        et d'une lettre classant les véhicules." The trailing letter CLASSIFIES
+        the vehicle; the middle group identifies the mission. Neither the digit
+        count nor the classifying alphabet is enumerated, so `\d{1,3}` and
+        `[A-Z]` are practical bounds and not sourced widths.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      foreground_note: >-
+        BLUE TODAY, GREEN IN 1978, AND THE CHANGE IS UNDATED — a recorded
+        disagreement between two readings of the SAME instrument at different
+        times, which is a cleaner kind of evidence than a disagreement between
+        sources. The 1978 printing says "Couleur des caractères : vert" for
+        ministres plénipotentiaires, members of the diplomatic corps, career
+        consular officers and assimilated bodies alike. The current consolidated
+        text says "bleu" for every one of them. Which of art. 6's ~30 amending
+        arrêtés made the change was not bisected in this pass. Anyone repeating
+        "green CD plates in Monaco" is describing the 1978 law correctly and the
+        present law incorrectly.
+      colour_history:
+        - { value: green, period: "1978-05-15 to an unpinned date", source_note: "the as-published 1978 gazette text" }
+        - { value: blue, period: "unpinned date to present", source_note: "the current consolidated text" }
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      DIPLOMATIC CORPS. The 1978 text subdivided the green series finely —
+      ministres plénipotentiaires of the Sovereign Prince at CD 1Z to CD 9Z,
+      members of the diplomatic corps from CD 10 to CD 20, career consular
+      officers and assimilated international bodies each with their own
+      paragraph. The current text collapses these into one CD grammar plus the
+      separate K series below.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, série diplomatique, current consolidated text"
+      - "https://jdm.gouv.mc/content/download/70638/1649149/file/JO_1978_J_6279.pdf  # the 1978 printing: 'Couleur des caractères : vert' and the CD 1Z / CD 10-CD 20 subdivisions"
+
+  - id: mc-diplomatic-k
+    class: diplomatic
+    categories: [car, van]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "99K99"
+      regex: '\A\d{1,3}[- ]?K[- ]?\d{2}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6: "un numéro d'identification identique à celui attribué aux
+        membres du corps diplomatique suivi de la lettre 'K' et de deux
+        chiffres." THE LEADING NUMBER IS SHARED WITH THE MISSION'S CD PLATE —
+        so a K plate and a CD plate with the same leading identifier belong to
+        the same mission. That is a genuine decode relationship, and it is the
+        only one in the Monegasque system.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL STAFF of missions, and staff of international
+      organisations. Class `diplomatic` rather than `consular`: the instrument
+      ties the identifier to the diplomatic corps' own numbering. Separated from
+      mc-diplomatic-cd because the grammar differs and the entitlement is
+      different in kind.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, personnel administratif et technique"
+
+  - id: mc-consular-cc
+    class: consular
+    categories: [car, van]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force
+    period_note: >-
+      Original to AM 78-5 and confirmed against the 1978 printing, which gives
+      "CC suivi d'un numéro allant de 01 à 99" — and, notably, gives the colour
+      as BLEU even in 1978, when every diplomatic sub-series was green. So the
+      honorary consular series has been blue throughout, and it was the only
+      blue series in the diplomatic family in 1978.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "CC99"
+      regex: '\ACC[- ]?\d{1,2}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: "art. 6: 'les lettres CC suivies d'un numéro allant de 1 à 99' — a 99-registration closed block"
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      HONORARY CONSULAR AGENTS — "Agents consulaires honoraires" in the
+      instrument's own heading, which is narrower than "consular corps": career
+      consular officers were in the GREEN diplomatic family in 1978. The
+      distinction between honorary and career consular status is carried in the
+      law and is preserved here.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, Agents consulaires honoraires"
+      - "https://jdm.gouv.mc/content/download/70638/1649149/file/JO_1978_J_6279.pdf  # the 1978 printing, confirming CC was blue from the start"
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # TRADE, TRANSIT AND PROVISIONAL.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: mc-dealer-w
+    class: dealer
+    categories: [car, van, truck, motorcycle]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "W999"
+      regex: '\AW\d{1,3}\z'
+      regex_statutory: '\A(?:W\d{1,3}|W\d[A-Z]\d|\d{3}W|W[A-Z]\d{2})\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6, "Professionnels de l'automobile": "la lettre W suivie d'un groupe
+        de trois chiffres au plus ou d'une lettre et deux chiffres au plus." The
+        article then splits the space by document type — W 001 to W 099 and
+        W 0 A1 to W 0 Z9 against a card, and W100 to W999, 100W to 999W and
+        WA01 to WZ99 against a provisional certificate. `regex` carries the
+        common W-then-digits form; `regex_statutory` carries all four shapes,
+        which is exactly the tier's purpose.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      MOTOR TRADE PLATES, bound to a business rather than a vehicle — the reason
+      W is excluded from every ordinary-series alphabet. The W regime is older
+      than AM 78-5: art. 11 abrogates AM 58-012 du 7 janvier 1958, which is
+      named as a predecessor and was not read.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, Professionnels de l'automobile"
+
+  - id: mc-tt
+    class: temporary
+    categories: [car, van, motorcycle]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force-upper-bound
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "TT99"
+      regex: '\ATT[- ]?\d{1,2}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6: "Le numéro d'immatriculation est composé d'un symbole TT suivi
+        d'un groupe de deux chiffres au plus, allant du n° TT01 à TT99." Maximum
+        validity one year.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#CC0000"
+      foreground_note: >-
+        RED characters — "couleur des caractères : rouge", one of only two red
+        series in Monegasque law (the other is DPTC). Since the ground and
+        furniture are constant, the red IS the series marker, and it is
+        statutory rather than observed. hex_basis observed for the shade only.
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      TRANSIT TEMPORAIRE — temporary importation, conditioned by art. 6 on the
+      "convention douanière franco-monégasque du 13 mai 1963" and available for
+      vehicles from outside the Franco-Monegasque customs union. A 99-plate
+      block with a one-year ceiling.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, série TT"
+
+  - id: mc-provisional-ww
+    class: temporary
+    categories: [car, van, motorcycle]
+    period: { start: 1978 }
+    period_evidence: statutory-authority-undated
+    period_caveat: >-
+      READ THIS BEFORE TRUSTING THE START YEAR. The CURRENT WW grammar is NOT in
+      the 1978 text — the 1978 WW series was something else entirely (see
+      mc-transfert-ww-1978). This series' true start lies somewhere in art. 6's
+      roughly thirty amendments between 1985 and 2025, and it was NOT bisected
+      in this pass. `period.start` carries 1978 only because the schema requires
+      a start and 1978 is the floor for any WW series at all; it is NOT a claim
+      that this grammar existed in 1978, and `period_evidence: not-established`
+      says so. A verifier should replace this start, not confirm it.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "9999 WW MC"
+      regex: '\A\d{4}[- ]?WW2?[- ]?[A-Z]?[- ]?MC\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        Art. 6, série provisoire: the number is composed of "a) un groupe de 4
+        chiffres pour les véhicules automobiles […] ou de 2 lettres et 2
+        chiffres pour les motocycles et assimilés ; b) suivi du symbole WW ou
+        WW2, suivi, le cas échéant, d'une lettre de série (A, B, C, etc.) ; c)
+        suivi des lettres MC." The trailing MC is part of THIS serial — the only
+        series in the file where MC is in the string rather than on the plate
+        furniture. Validity four months.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#003399", finish: non-reflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#FFFFFF"
+      design_note: >-
+        THE ONE SERIES THAT INVERTS MONACO'S WHOLE COLOUR SCHEME, and it is not
+        a plate at all but an adhesive band: "Ces bandes autocollantes doivent
+        être de couleur bleue avec des caractères blancs, encadrés d'un trait
+        blanc sur lequel est insérée, sur la partie du bas à l'horizontale, la
+        mention 'PRINCIPAUTÉ DE MONACO'." White on blue, against blue on white
+        everywhere else.
+      plate: { w: 455, h: 85, unit: mm, note: "the adhesive band for cars — 'longueur : 45,5 cm ; largeur : 8,5 cm'. THE ONLY OVERALL DIMENSION IN THE WHOLE INSTRUMENT, because a band is not a deposited model." }
+      plate_variants:
+        - { w: 205, h: 100, unit: mm, note: "motorcycles — 'longueur : 20,5 cm ; largeur : 10 cm'" }
+      font: { name: "Swiss721 BT", note: "NAMED IN THE INSTRUMENT — the only typeface named anywhere in the microstates group, and a licensing question PRD-PLATES §6 must answer before any render uses it. Swiss721 is a Bitstream commercial font; the render layer uses the schematic fallback." }
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: false }
+      rear_differs: false
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      PROVISIONAL REGISTRATION, four months, on adhesive bands rather than
+      aluminium plates. This is the grammar the secondary accounts mistake for a
+      pre-1979 general series — see header finding 4. Two facts make it the most
+      unusual entry in this file: it is the only Monegasque series with white
+      characters on blue, and it is the only one whose typeface is named in law.
+    sources:
+      - "https://legimonaco.mc/tnc/arrete-ministeriel/1978/01-09-78-5/  # AM 78-5 art. 6, série provisoire — the WW grammar, the band colours and dimensions, and the Swiss721 BT font"
+
+  - id: mc-transfert-ww-1978
+    class: temporary
+    categories: [car, van]
+    period: { start: 1978, ended: true }
+    year_end_min: 1978
+    period_evidence: instrument-in-force
+    period_note: >-
+      KNOWN-OVER-UNDATED. The series is in the 1978 printing and is NOT in the
+      current consolidated text, so it certainly ended — but which amendment
+      ended it was not identified. `ended: true` with `year_end_min: 1978`
+      rather than a fabricated end year.
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "WW 99"
+      regex: '\AWW[- ]?\d{1,2}\z'
+      format_evidence: statutory
+      format_note: >-
+        The 1978 "Série Transfert": "les deux lettres WW suivies d'un groupe de
+        deux chiffres, soit WW 01 à WW 99", maximum validity FIFTEEN DAYS. Note
+        how little it resembles the modern WW series — different grammar,
+        different validity, no trailing MC, and a plate rather than a band.
+    design:
+      background: { color: "#FFFFFF", finish: retroreflective, hex_basis: observed }
+      foreground: "#5B9BD5"
+      hex_basis: observed
+      band: { side: none }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      rear_differs: true
+      plate: null
+    region_encoding: none
+    notes: >-
+      THE 1978 TRANSFER SERIES — a fifteen-day movement permit, WW 01 to WW 99.
+      Modelled expressly so the modern provisional series can be told apart from
+      it, because conflating the two is the origin of the "pre-1979 nnnn WW MC"
+      claim. Reading the as-published 1978 text is what made the distinction
+      visible; the consolidated text alone would have hidden it.
+    sources:
+      - "https://jdm.gouv.mc/content/download/70638/1649149/file/JO_1978_J_6279.pdf  # Journal de Monaco n° 6279 du 27 janvier 1978, AM 78-5 art. 6, Série Transfert"