I just received my plastic certificate in today's mail. I passed my
PP-ASEL checkride on Nov 5, so this is the first certificate for me.
Opening the envelope to find it brought a huge smile to my face.

Have they been issuing the plastic certificates for long? I was
expecting paper, until I saw the AVWeb article yesterday. The letter
that came with my certificate said the FAA had been issuing paper
certificates since 1926,

It's got a magnetic strip on the back...I wonder what's encoded
there...

Gary