Hermès Stamp Year Guide: 1945–2026 Chart

In short: The Hermès stamp year is a single letter pressed into the leather, and the shape around it decides the era: no frame for 1945–1970, a circle for 1971–1996, a square for 1997–2014, and a bare letter again from 2015, when the sequence stopped following the alphabet (2025 is K, and 2026 is G). For a bare letter, the model, position, and leather settle which of the two bare eras it belongs to. Ginza Celia's concierge team can help you read a stamp, or search for a specific year on request.

Why Does the Hermès Stamp Year Matter?

The Hermès stamp year matters because Hermès does not issue authenticity cards, so the stamp is the record of a bag's age that stays with the bag itself. It tells you which leathers the bag could have been made in, and it is the detail that birth-year and anniversary collectors search by. What it does not tell you is the condition.

Age and condition are separate questions. A bag stamped 2004 can still be unused, but it has spent more than twenty years in storage, so its condition depends on how it was kept, not on the letter: ask about storage, and look at the leather and hardware yourself. And because every Hermès leather has a first year of production, the stamp has to agree with the leather on the bag. Everything below can be checked against the bag itself, with no need to take a seller's word for the year.

What Is a Hermès Blind Stamp, and What Does It Tell You?

A Hermès blind stamp, also called the date stamp or date code, is a small impression pressed into the leather that identifies the year a bag was made. It is separate from the "HERMÈS PARIS MADE IN FRANCE" heat stamp, which names the maison rather than the year.

A stamp can carry three pieces of information:

• The year letter. One letter stands for one year in every era, with no month or season, and never a sale date.
• The frame. On bags made from 1971 to 2014, the letter sits inside a circle or a square, and that frame marks the era.
• Craftsman or atelier codes. Other characters near the year letter are craftsman codes, not dates. On stamps from 2015 onward, the year letter is the first character, at the top left of a two-line stamp, followed by the craftsman codes.

How Do You Read a Hermès Stamp Year?

Read a Hermès stamp year in two steps: identify the letter, then look at the frame around it. A circled letter belongs to 1971–1996 and a squared letter to 1997–2014, while a letter with no frame belongs to 1945–1970 or to 2015 onward. The frame, not the letter, sets the era, so one letter can stand for several different years.

Why Does the Same Letter Mean Different Years?

Each of the first three eras runs through the alphabet again, and the 2015-onward sequence reuses twelve of the same letters, so one letter recurs across eras. Three examples show how the frame decides:

H is the cleanest case: it is not in the 2015-onward sequence, so a bare H on a bag made through 2026 is 1952. A is the best-known case: an A can be four different years (so can B, C, D, G, and K), which is why "Which year is the Hermès A stamp?" has no answer until you know the frame.

How Do You Tell a Bare Letter from 2015 Onward from a Bare Letter of 1945–1970?

A frame settles the era at once. A bare letter does not, because all twelve letters of the 2015-onward sequence also exist as plain letters in 1945–1970. Five checks separate them:

1. Is it a Birkin? The Birkin was designed in 1983, so a Birkin can never carry a 1945–1970 letter: a bare letter on a Birkin is 2015 onward, or the transitional late-2014 R. The Kelly and the Constance both predate 1971, so for them the checks below still matter.
2. Is the letter in the 2015-onward sequence? Through 2026, only twelve letters are: T, X, A, C, D, Y, Z, U, B, W, K, and G. Any other bare letter (E, F, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, or V) on a bag made through 2026 belongs to 1945–1970, with one transitional exception noted under Table 2. Each new year adds one letter, so for a bag made in 2027 or later, ask us for the current letter.
3. Where does it sit? On a Birkin or Kelly, a stamp on the underside of the front strap points to a bag made up to around 2015, and a stamp inside the bag, on the upper left side wall, points to around 2016 onward.
4. Does the leather fit? Togo (1997), Epsom (2004), and Evercolor (2013) all came after 1970, so a bare letter on a bag in any of them cannot belong to 1945–1970.
5. Is it a T? A bare T is either 1964 or 2015. Because a 2015 T can still sit on the strap, position does not separate the two; the leather and the rest of the specification have to settle it.

What Year Does Each Hermès Stamp Letter Mean? The 1945–2026 Chart

Every Hermès date-stamp letter stands for one production year between 1945 and 2026, and the frame around it decides which: a plain letter for 1945–1970, a circle for 1971–1996, a square for 1997–2014, and an unframed, non-alphabetical sequence from 2015, in which 2025 is K and 2026 is G. Table 1 covers the three alphabetical eras, and Table 2 covers 2015 onward. Hermès does not publish these codes, so the chart is our own reference.

Table 1: Letters A–Z, 1945–2014

The square era stops at R (2014), so S–Z appear only in the first two columns. Every letter in Table 2 also appears in the first column above, which is why a bare letter needs the checks in the previous section.

Table 2: 2015 onward (no frame, not alphabetical)

Three notes apply to the chart:

• Since 2015 the letters have to be looked up, not counted. Hermès does not publish the order, and the twelve letters are established from pieces in circulation.
• A handful of late-2014 pieces carry R without the square. That is a transitional stamp, and it is still 2014.
• A bare T can be 1964 or 2015. On the strap, position cannot separate the two; the leather and the rest of the specification have to settle it.

Where Is the Date Stamp on a Birkin, Kelly, or Constance?

On a Birkin or Kelly made up to around 2015, the date stamp sits on the underside of the front strap (the sangle), so you lift the strap to see it. From around 2016 it sits inside the bag, on the upper part of the left side wall toward the back. It is never placed beside the "HERMÈS PARIS MADE IN FRANCE" heat stamp.

The move from strap to side wall falls around 2015–2016, so a 2015 T stamp can still sit on the strap.

On a Constance or any other model, the stamp usually sits inside the bag, but the exact spot changes from model to model, often a side panel or the inside of a flap. Ask the seller for a photo that shows the stamp and where it sits rather than assuming a Birkin position.

What Do the Horseshoe Stamp and Other Symbols Mean?

A horseshoe stamp marks a special order, a bag made to one client's choice of leather, colors, and hardware. Collectors often call these HSS bags, short for horseshoe stamp. The horseshoe is pressed inside the bag, beside the Hermès stamp on its left, and our listings flag these pieces with SPO. Other small symbols beside the Hermès logo stamp identify exotic species rather than the year: a caret, two dots, an empty square, or one or two hyphens.

The square beside the logo stamp is not a year frame. On an alligator bag, the □ is a species mark. The 1997–2014 year frame encloses the date letter instead, and on a Birkin or Kelly the date letter sits on the strap or the left side wall, never beside the HERMÈS PARIS MADE IN FRANCE stamp.

What Does the Stamp Year Tell You, and What Doesn't It?

The stamp year tells you when a bag was made, not when it was sold, and it does not prove the bag is authentic. A bag acquired new in early 2026 can carry a K (2025) stamp. The year must also agree with the leather: Togo dates from 1997, Epsom from 2004 (replacing Courchevel), and Evercolor from 2013.

Is the Stamp Year the Year a Bag Was Sold?

No. The stamp records production, so a bag made in 2025 and acquired new in early 2026 carries a K, not a G. The date of sale is a separate fact.

Does the Leather Have to Fit the Stamp Year?

Yes. Each of these leathers has a first year, and a stamp earlier than that year does not add up:

Our guide to Togo, Epsom, and Clemence covers how each leather looks and wears, and our Barenia collector's guide covers one that is chosen for how it ages.

Does the Blind Stamp Prove a Hermès Bag Is Authentic?

No. Counterfeit stamps exist, and a letter is easy to imitate on its own. When we look at a stamp, three things count:

• Depth. A genuine blind stamp is a light, shallow impression; a letter pressed hard and deep into the leather is a warning sign.
• Fit. The stamp has to fit the bag: a year earlier than the leather, or a format that does not match its position (a 2026 G on the strap of a Birkin, for example), does not add up.
• Absence proves nothing. A genuine Hermès bag can lack a blind stamp, so a missing stamp is no verdict either way.

Authentication is a separate, physical inspection of the whole piece, which we describe in how Hermès bags are authenticated in Japan.

What If the Hermès Stamp Is Missing or Unreadable?

A missing or unreadable stamp does not by itself mean a bag is not authentic. Strap stamps wear because the strap is handled at every opening, and on bags made up to around 2015, a strap replaced outside Hermès can remove the date stamp entirely. A genuine bag can lack a blind stamp altogether, and very early pieces may carry no date stamp at all.

Hermès is not known to re-date a bag at repair, though a faded HERMÈS PARIS heat stamp may be refreshed. When a stamp cannot be read, ask the seller for close, well-lit photographs of the underside of the strap and of the upper left side wall, and ask whether the strap has ever been replaced or the bag serviced. Weigh the answer against the rest of the bag: the leather, the hardware, and the construction.

How Do You Search for a Birth-Year Hermès Bag by Stamp?

To search for a birth-year Hermès bag, choose the frame before the letter. A 1978 birth year means a circled H, not the square H of 2004 and not a bare H, which is 1952. Birth-year and anniversary gifts are an established and current reason to search by stamp, and the older the year, the scarcer the bags.

1. Find the year in the chart and note its frame. 1978 is a circled H (Table 1), 2004 is a square H (Table 1), and 2026 is a bare G (Table 2).
2. Search by the letter, then confirm the frame. Listings write the frame inconsistently, and some leave it out, so search by the letter and check the frame on a photo of the stamp. When you ask, spell the frame out in words ("H in a circle, 1978") so there is no doubt which year you mean.
3. Ask for a photo of the stamp and its position. On a Birkin or Kelly, the strap underside points to a bag made up to around 2015, and the upper left side wall to around 2016 onward. Check that the position and the leather agree with the year.
4. Expect scarcity before 1997. Our concierge team searches on request, with no promise of finding a particular year.

For 2026 pieces specifically, our guide to the Hermès colors of 2026 covers the new shades Hermès introduced for the G-stamp year.

Conclusion: Read the Frame First, Then the Letter

Reading a Hermès stamp year comes down to one habit: look at the frame before the letter. A circle or a square settles the era at once, a bare letter takes a check of model, position, and leather, and from 2015 the letters have to be looked up, because 2025 is K and 2026 is G, not the next letters of the alphabet. Ginza Celia's concierge team reads these stamps in person and can search for a specific year on request, though pieces from before 1997 are scarce and we cannot promise to find one.

Every piece at Ginza Celia is physically authenticated before sale and sold under a license issued under Japan's Secondhand Goods Business Act (License No. 305562116803).

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