How old are my Levis Jeans? Are they Vintage?

Gone are the days of looking at a pair of Levis and guessing their age. A myriad of fades and stories of their life used to be the one great telltale sign. But today with manufacturers distressing and pre ageing denim, sometimes it's not so easy, I get asked this question a lot by buyers and browsers alike, heres a few tips that may help out.

Have you ever noticed a number written on the reverse of the top button on your vintage Levis jeans and wondered what it means?  The answer is, this number refers to the factory where the jeans were made. In Levis jeans that do have this numbered button you should also find the same number printed or stitched on the inside care label – and if the numbers don’t match, you may have a fake…so something to look out for. I have been compiling a list for sometime and I'm happy to share. Please comment and let us know if you have any to add to the list.

Levis Factory Numbers

LEVI'S BUTTON - BACK STAMPS

Australia - 341,153

Bangladesh - 3440, 3937, 4582

Bangladesh - 4582, 3440, 5098, 3937

Baclaran - 666

Belgium - 266

Brazil - 662

Cambodia - 3411, 3423, 3460, 5019, 5469, 865M

Canada - 216, 212, 239,217

Colombia - 689, 4051, 740, 748, 615, 177M 

Croatia - C01

China - 3496, 3269, 4994, 0828, 4102, 3401, 1128, 3416, 1036, C182, 228M, 238,

Dominican - 333,333M, 351M

Egypt - 889, 3757, 4985, 4986, 1024, 4649, 8188

England/UK/ Great Britain - 299,211, 311

France - 275

Greece - G01, G30, G50

Guatemala 324, 436

Haiti - 267, 4384, 355

Hongkong - HKQ8, 112M

Hungary - 252

Indonesia - 3245

Italy - I01, I197, I16

Japan J02, J22, J39, J38, 3029, 3012, 3015

Korea K37, K91, K

Kenya 0438, 0238

Lesotho 450,499,3405

Malta - M41

Morocco - M74, 528

Mexico 4996, 4002, 4001, 104, 104M, 178M, 125, 138, 138M, 230, 989, 493, 647, 4032, 4093, 6056, 4090

Nicaragua 4460

Pakistan P44, 8520, 4309, 4311, 092

Philippines 359, 3071, 3073, 3074, 1300, P85

Poland 273, 1605, 8274

Romania 024

Quiapo - 999

Spain 295, 292

SriLanka - 906, 3449, 4403

Thailand T15

Tunisia T27, T31, T32, T34

Turkey T01,034, 247, 3813, 4006, 4016, 4649, 4896, 4983, 5044, 0172, 0145, 4528, 192

United States of America - 'USA' only used 3 digits after 1983

D, L, R, S, A, B, C, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 18, 23, 501, 511, 512, 515, 520, 522,

524, 524M, 525, 530, 532, 544, 544M, 546, 546M, 552, 976

553, 554, 555, 558 , 575, 643 ,650, 653, 698, 777, 4170, 4420, 337, 5115

643M, 0607, 1550

Vietnam V23, V, V14, 4459, 5222, 3989, 236M

Obviously being located in Australia, we are very Australian denim history focused, of course you'll find a lot of USA made vintage imports but the true gold for us, is the Australian made Jeans, a little piece of our own history, very well made and still going strong today.

The Levi Strauss company's record-paced expansion of its manufacturing capacity from 16 plants to more than 63 in the US – and 23 overseas – from 1964 to 1974.

In the 1980s, the company closed approximately 60 manufacturing plants worldwide because of financial difficulties and strong competition with more brands now in the denim marketplace.

Our main Levis Factory was located in Winterslow Road Elizabeth West in South Australia where production slowed in the 90's to trickle by 2000's. Levis left Australia completely in November 2004- closing the factory and laying off 86 employees. Although less common, some Levis were also made stamped Made in Australia stamped #153 which I believe these were Made in Melbourne in the 80's - if anyone has more info on factory 153 please reach out! 

Pic. Levis Factory in Elizabeth West Circa 1975 courtesy of Playfords Past

All Levis that are made in Australia are now Vintage, which technically means they are 25 years or more old. So if your jeans have an inside label that says made in Australia it's a great sign. These labels will also be paper like or woven cloth not the satin labels which were used much later.

If your inside labels are removed you still have the button number if its #341 it was made from 70's-2000's.

But the inside label will normally have the model number, the factory number and the date of manufacture. As well as a lot of other numbers ( related to colour ,wash ect. that don't help at all!). The 80's the paper like label was attached to the back of the fly or down the side leg seem after the pocket lining and not at the front waist like todays versions. Jean care labels were introduced 1973, so if you don't have a care label or even tiny remnants in the seam where one once was, this could be a great sign. 

Not all models had this info in the same place or order. But you should be able to nut it out. You are looking for the matching Factory number to the stamped back of the top front button.

Then a model Number Eg 501, 511 etc. Then you will find a usually four digit date eg 06  87 This indicated the jeans were made in June 1987.

Our Sample Below is Australian Made Factory 341

Model: 604's Made in October 1990

As far as fakes go, I've never seen an Australian labelled fake - they usually use a made in USA label and have a fake button stamp of 501. Not always 501 but its common.

I will be doing a deeper dive into Vintage Jeans in coming months. Got questions or something to add, please reach out...... Love to hear from you!