How to Read a Louis Vuitton Date Code

Almost every Louis Vuitton wallet and bag made between the early 1980s and 2021 carries a small stamped code — usually on a leather tab inside a pocket or along an interior seam. It is one of the first things we check on every piece that comes through FarOff, and it is one of the most misunderstood. Here is how to read one.

What a date code is — and is not

A date code is not a serial number. It does not identify your individual piece, and Louis Vuitton cannot look a piece up by it. What it records is where and when the piece was made: two letters for the factory, and numbers for the date. A correct-looking code is a good sign, but it is never proof of authenticity on its own — counterfeits copy codes, fonts and all. It is one checkpoint among many (stitching, hardware, canvas, stamping, smell and feel), which is why every piece we list is authenticated by our team first.

Where to find it on a wallet

On wallets, look in these places first:

• Stamped on a small leather tab inside a bill slot or pocket
• Printed along the seam inside a card pocket
• On a leather patch inside the coin section of zip wallets

Codes on well-used pieces can be faint. A soft light at an angle helps more than a bright one straight on.

The formats, by era

1990 to 2006: month and year

Two letters, then four numbers. The first and third digits give the month, the second and fourth give the year.

Example: SD0051 — digits 0, 0, 5, 1 → month = 05, year = 01 → May 2001, made in the SD factory.

2007 to 2021: week and year

Same layout, different reading. From 2007 the first and third digits give the week of the year, and the second and fourth give the year.

Example: SD2109 — digits 2, 1, 0, 9 → week = 20, year = 19 → week 20 of 2019.

This is the format on most pre-owned wallets you will see for sale today, including most of the Louis Vuitton pieces in our store.

Before 1990: the early systems

Earlier pieces use shorter codes — three or four digits, sometimes with letters — and some very early pieces have no code at all. On a genuinely vintage piece, a short code or no code is not by itself a red flag; the rest of the piece has to agree with its era.

2021 to today: the microchip

Around 2021 Louis Vuitton phased out printed date codes in favor of an embedded microchip. If a recent piece has no visible code, that is normal — the information is on the chip, which can only be read with Louis Vuitton's own equipment. Nothing about the chip can be checked from a photo, one more reason to buy recent pieces from a seller who authenticates.

Three quick sanity checks

• Does the year fit the style? A code reading 2015 on a style that was discontinued in 2009 means something is wrong — with the code, the piece, or both.
• Do the letters fit? The two letters are a factory code. Codes exist for factories in France, Spain, Italy, the USA and others — but a letter pair that was never used is an immediate tell.
• Does the stamp look right? Genuine stamps are clean and even, sized to the tab. Blurry, crooked or overly deep stamps deserve a closer look at everything else.

Pieces in the store right now to practise on: the Large Zippy Damier Wallet, the Monogram Vernis Key Holder and the Murakami Key Holder.

Reading the code takes ten seconds once you know the formats — and knowing the formats is most of what separates a confident pre-owned purchase from a guess. Every Louis Vuitton piece at FarOff is checked against its code, its materials and its construction before it is listed, and photographed so you can see the exact piece you are buying. Browse the current wallets or read more about how we authenticate.