Deciphering the Louis Vuitton date codes

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Authentication

All Louis Vuitton handbags dating from the 1980s have "date codes" printed somewhere on the bag. They are a combination of letters and numbers that identify the location and date the bag was made. Lots of people also use the code to help authenticate LV bags as it is such a highly faked brand but not many know how to figure out what the date code on their bags actually means. We are here to help you understand the meaning of the code on your bag.

The letters in the date code always refer to the factory location as shown in the table below:

France

Germany

Italy

Spain

Switzerland

USA

A0, A1, A2, AA, AAS, AH, AN, AR, AS, BA, BJ, BU, DR, DU, DR, DT, CO, CT, CX, ET, FL, LW, MB, MI, NO, RA, RI, SA, SD, SF, SL, SN, SP, SR, TA, TJ, TH, TN, TR, TS, VI, VX

LP, OL

BC, BO, CE, FO, MA, NZ, OB, PL, RC, RE, SA, TD

BC, CA, LO, LB, LM, LW, GI, UB

DA, FA

FC, FH, LA, OS, SD, FL, TX

When it comes to the numbers in your date code, it becomes slightly more complex. If your bag is older than 1980 it won't have a date code however for bags from the early 80s the date codes had three or four number with the first two digits showing the year and the last number(s) indicating the month.

Later on in the 80s, the date code would consist of three or four numbers followed by two letters. Here, the first two numbers tell us the year, the next number(s) indicate the month and the letters represent the factory location (as seen in the above table.)

From 1990-2006, the date code changed slightly and now started with the two letters (again indicating the factory location) and then followed by 4 numbers. Here, the first and third number represents the month and then the second and fourth number tells us the year.

Finally, when looking at a date code from 2007 and onwards, the first two letters still indicate the location, however, now the first and third number represents the week of the year, and the second and fourth number indicates the year. For example, we had this white multicolour speedy bag with the date code 'RI0137'. So, from the date code, we can decipher that the bag came from a French factory (RI), from the third week (03) of 2017 (17).