Hermes Date Code GUIDE
Each Hermes leather bag or wallet has a blind (you cannot see it from the outside) stamp which includes the year the bag was produced plus another stamp which indicates the artisan who hand created that particular bag. The stamped date codes are very helpful for authentication purposes plus it is important for the appraisal of the Hermes bag.
When Hermes started the date code in 1945 it was just a plain letter A stamped inside the bag. Hermes eventually stopped the plain letters when they arrived on Z in 1970 from the alphabet so the French fashion house then continued with the stamp with a Circle in 1971 and alphabetic letter to coordinate the year. The Circle was then replaced with a Square and a letter to signify the year. Recently, Hermes has taken away any geometrical shape around the letter and it has now started to go back to the basic plain letter starting A in 2016 by itself along with a code/artisan stamp.
NO SHAPE 1945-1970
A - 1945 O - 1959
B - 1946 P - 1960
C - 1947 Q - 1961
D - 1948 R - 1962
E - 1949 S - 1963
F - 1950 T - 1964
G - 1951 U - 1965
H - 1952 V - 1966
I - 1953 W - 1967
J - 1954 X - 1968
K -1955 Y - 1969
L - 1956 Z -1970
M - 1957
N - 1958
CIRCLE SHAPE 1971-1996
A - 1971 O - 1985
B - 1972 P - 1986
C - 1973 Q - 1987
D - 1974 R - 1988
E - 1975 S - 1989
F - 1976 T - 1990
G - 1977 U - 1991
H - 1978 V - 1992
I - 1979 W - 1993
J - 1980 X - 1994
K -1981 Y - 1995
L - 1982 Z -1996
M - 1983
N - 1984
SQUARE SHAPE 1997-2014
A - 1997 O - 2011
B - 1998 P - 2012
C - 1999 Q - 2013
D - 2000 R - 2014 (Early Production)
E - 2001
F - 2002
G - 2003
H - 2004
I - 2005
J - 2006
K - 2007
L - 2008
M - 2009
N - 2010
NO SHAPE 2014-2024
R - 2014 (Late Production)
T - 2015
X - 2016
A - 2017
C - 2018
D - 2019
Y - 2020
Z - 2021
U - 2022
B - 2023
W- 2024