Hermès date stamp decoder

An Hermès date stamp, often called the blind stamp, is a letter pressed into the leather, alone or inside a circle or a square. The shape gives the era and the letter gives the year. Choose both in the decoder.

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The years come from collector charts that resale guides publish, not from an Hermès record, so each year is shown beside the guides that list it.

1945 to 1970: No shape
1971 to 1996: In a circle
1997 to 2014: In a square
From 2015: No shape again

Drawn for this page, not copied from a bag.

Shape around the letter

Letter in the stamp

1945197119972015

Choose the shape, then the letter. What you enter is not uploaded. The reading runs in your browser.

A stamp reading follows collector charts published by resale guides, not a record from Hermès. It is not proof of age or authenticity, and it is not an appraisal.

Looking for a date stamp checker? This decoder only reads the year collector charts give a stamp. It does not check authenticity, name who made a bag or say when a particular bag was made.

Vintage Bag Index is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Hermès.

One letter, four possible years

Rebag describes the date letters in four runs. From 1945 the stamp is a single letter. From 1971 the letter sits in a circle, and from 1997 in a square. From 2015 the shape is gone again.

So the shape matters as much as the letter. Christie's makes the same point: the format of the stamp has varied, and each format belongs to a specific era.

1945
No shape
1945 to 1970
1971
Circle
1971 to 1996
1997
Square
1997 to 2014
2017
No shape again
From 2015

The letter A in each of the four eras the charts describe. Drawn for this page, not copied from a bag.

Where to find the stamp

Christie's says the stamp is usually on the interior flap or the side gusset, and that it is meant to be a very subtle mark.

Fashionphile says there is no single location: it depends on the age and the style, so finding it can take some time.

Choose the letter and shape you can actually see. Jane Finds advises recording what is visible on the bag, not what a chart suggests.

Birkin and Kelly, after 2016: Left side of the interior, close to the back flapXupes
Birkin 30: Interior, sideFashionphile
Mini Kelly: Interior, next to the pocketFashionphile
Constance: Middle interior panelXupes
Evelyne TPM: Inside the closure strapFashionphile
So Kelly 26: On the strapFashionphile
Mini Lindy: Interior, inside the pocketFashionphile
Vintage models: Under the tab, or on the underside of the strapXupes

Hermès date stamp year chart

Each row is a letter, with the year the charts give it in each of the three alphabetical runs. Rebag, Jane Finds and Xupes print the same years for all three.

Hermès date stamp years by letter and shape, 1945 to 2014
Letter	No shape	In a circle	In a square
A	1945	1971	1997
B	1946	1972	1998
C	1947	1973	1999
D	1948	1974	2000
E	1949	1975	2001
F	1950	1976	2002
G	1951	1977	2003
H	1952	1978	2004
I	1953	1979	2005
J	1954	1980	2006
K	1955	1981	2007
L	1956	1982	2008
M	1957	1983	2009
N	1958	1984	2010
O	1959	1985	2011
P	1960	1986	2012
Q	1961	1987	2013
R	1962	1988	2014
S	1963	1989	Not used
T	1964	1990	Not used
U	1965	1991	Not used
V	1966	1992	Not used
W	1967	1993	Not used
X	1968	1994	Not used
Y	1969	1995	Not used
Z	1970	1996	Not used

From 2015: letters with no shape, out of order

From 2015 the letter stands alone again and the sequence is no longer alphabetical. Rebag says the date letter is the first character of a longer stamp, and that the characters after it are separate marks. This page reads the date letter only.

Hermès date stamp letters from 2015
Year	Letter	Listed by
2015	T	Rebag, Jane Finds, Xupes
2016	X	Rebag, Jane Finds, Xupes
2017	A	Rebag, Jane Finds, Xupes
2018	C	Rebag, Jane Finds, Xupes
2019	D	Rebag, Jane Finds, Xupes
2020	Y	Rebag, Jane Finds, Xupes
2021	Z	Rebag, Jane Finds, Xupes
2022	U	Jane Finds, Xupes
2023	B	Jane Finds, Xupes
2024	W	Jane Finds, Xupes
2025	K	Jane Finds, Xupes
2026	G	Xupes. Jane Finds keeps it as a reported convention only.

Take a P in a circle. Circle stamps start at A in 1971, and P is the sixteenth letter, so the charts give 1986. That is what the stamp says, not proof of when the bag was made.

Where the charts run out

They are collector charts: Jane Finds calls them widely used collector conventions and says they are not an official Hermès production ledger.
A plain letter has two runs: A, B, C, D, G, K, T, U, W, X, Y and Z all appear both between 1945 and 1970 and from 2015, so the decoder shows both years and leaves the choice to the rest of the bag.
Two stamps break the pattern: Rebag and Xupes describe some 2011 bags that carry the O in a square linked to a second letter, and some late 2014 bags that carry an R with no square. Jane Finds adds that a faint or incomplete square does not by itself show late 2014.
Some bags have no stamp: Rebag says leather goods made before 1945 carry none, and Christie's notes that some later bags have none either.
The app stops at the same place: The “What can we identify?” sheet in Vintage Handbag Identifier lists Hermès at a family or an era, not an exact model. The app holds no catalogue records for Hermès.

Questions about Hermès date stamps

How do I read an Hermès date stamp?

Look at the shape around the letter first. Collector charts give plain letters to 1945 to 1970, letters in a circle to 1971 to 1996, letters in a square to 1997 to 2014, and plain letters again from 2015. Then find the letter in that era.

Sources: Rebag, Jane Finds, Xupes.

What year is a square Hermès stamp?

The charts run square stamps from A in 1997 to R in 2014. Rebag's shortcut is that D in a square is 2000, and you count forward through the alphabet from there.

Sources: Rebag.

Why does a letter with no shape give two years?

Plain letters were used from 1945 to 1970 and again from 2015, so an A with no shape can be 1945 or 2017. Jane Finds says an unframed letter has to be read with the model and period.

Sources: Jane Finds.

What is the Hermès date stamp for 2025?

Jane Finds and Xupes both list K for 2025, W for 2024 and B for 2023. G is reported for 2026, and Jane Finds keeps it as a reported convention, not an established one.

Sources: Jane Finds, Xupes.

Where is the date stamp on a Birkin or Kelly?

Xupes places it on the left side of the interior, close to the back flap, on Birkin and Kelly bags made after 2016, and under the tab or on the underside of the strap on vintage models. Fashionphile shows a Birkin 30 stamp on the interior side.

Sources: Xupes, Fashionphile.

Does a date stamp prove an Hermès bag is authentic?

No. Christie's notes that not every Hermès bag has a blind stamp, and Jane Finds says a plausible code can be copied. A stamp that fits the chart is one consistency check, not proof that a bag is genuine, and not an appraisal.

Sources: Christie's, Jane Finds.