West Virginia driver's license security check

West Virginia gets mentioned less often than larger states in quality discussions, but I ordered one specifically to compare against what I could find of the genuine card. Here are my inspection notes.

Card design

The current West Virginia license uses a landscape format with a blue gradient background featuring the state outline and Capitol building imagery. The card includes a second photo (ghost image) positioned in the lower left area. The state is among the cards using laser engraving for the cardholder's personal data fields rather than ink printing, which creates a visible depth difference between the data fields and the printed design elements.

UV features

Under 365nm UV, the WV card shows a pattern across the card face that is not visible under normal light. The pattern includes the state's "Wild and Wonderful" motto element and a series of background design features. These UV features are subtle on the genuine card — not the bright fluorescent elements some states use — and the vendor card I received approximated them but with slightly higher UV intensity than the genuine card reference I was comparing against.

Hologram overlay

The WV holographic overlay is a partial-coverage strip rather than a full-card overlay. It covers the photo zone and part of the data field area. The genuine card's overlay has a specific gold-green shift that is fairly clean under direct light. The vendor card showed a similar shift but the transition happened at a slightly different angle, suggesting a different grade of OVD material was used.

For practical purposes, the vendor card I received would pass a standard visual check and barcode scan. The UV and hologram differences require a genuine reference card to identify. West Virginia is not a state checkers in most regions know intimately, which reduces the scrutiny this card faces outside the state itself.