How to Authenticate and Date Vintage Levi's

Last reviewed 2026-10-04 by the AntiqueCostume editorial team · Sources · How we research

Vintage Levi's are dated by reading several features together: the red tab (Big E or small e), the outseam (selvedge or overlocked), the waistband patch, the back-pocket rivets or bar tacks, the stamp on the back of the top button, and the care label. Each one narrows the window, and together they usually place a pair within a few years. The main authentication risk is not crude counterfeits but Levi's own historically accurate reissues, which copy the Big E, the selvedge and even the leather patch, and are sometimes sold as originals.

Quick answer

A Big E tab ("LEVI'S" in capitals) means pre-1971 production, according to Levi Strauss & Co.'s own historian, but Big E reissues exist, so confirm with the care label.
Redline selvedge on the outseam points to before about 1984, when Cone Mills moved to wider looms; Levi's has since reintroduced selvedge on reissue and premium lines.
No sewn-in care label at all points to roughly pre-1972; the FTC Care Labeling Rule was issued in December 1971.
A three-digit factory number on the back of the top button is typical of roughly the 1980s to 2002; it confirms a pair rather than dating it alone.
Never date or authenticate from one feature. A reissue can be perfect on the tab and wrong on the care label.

Start with the red tab

The Red Tab first appeared on 501 jeans on September 1, 1936, and on jackets on July 1, 1937, according to the Levi Strauss & Co. archives. It sits in the seam of the right back pocket.

Tab detail	What it indicates
No tab at all	Possibly pre-1936, but check it was not cut off; the Levi's historian notes that discount stores and some wearers removed tabs
"LEVI'S" in capitals on one side only	Early tab; Levi's dates one-sided tabs to about 1936 to 1952 (some dealer guides say about 1951)
"LEVI'S" in capitals on both sides	Double-sided Big E, 1950s to 1971
"Levi's" with a lowercase e	1971 or later
Blank red tab with only ®	Genuine. Levi's deliberately makes a share of tabs with only the ® to protect the tab itself as a trademark. It is not a fake and not a date clue
Orange tab	Levi's fashion lines (flares, boot cuts and similar) introduced in the 1960s
Black tab with gold lettering	1960s Sta-Prest
Silver tab	The baggy SilverTab line of the late 1980s and 1990s

The switch from "LEVI'S" to "Levi's" in 1971 followed the batwing logo designed by Walter Landor & Associates in 1967, which set the name in upper and lower case. Collectors have since treated the Big E as the dividing line for "true vintage" Levi's, which is why Big E pairs command the highest prices.

The catch: Levi's Vintage Clothing (LVC) reproductions deliberately use the Big E, and one Dutch wholesale dealer reports that some recent European-made production also carries a Big E. A Big E is necessary for pre-1971, not sufficient.

Check the outseam: selvedge or overlock

Turn a leg inside out and look at the side seam.

Selvedge: a clean, woven, self-finished edge, usually white with a red line on Levi's ("redline"). Levi's official history says Cone Mills developed red selvedge denim exclusively for the 501 in 1927 and that it ran until around 1984, when Cone adopted wider, more economical looms that did away with selvedge. Collector guides give slightly later cut-offs (1985 or 1986), which likely reflects old fabric stock being used up. Treat selvedge as "about 1985 or earlier" for original-run 501s.
Overlocked (serged) seam: collector guides report an orange or copper-coloured overlock thread on the earliest non-selvedge pairs (roughly 1981 to 1984), followed by white overlock into the early 1990s.

Selvedge returned on Levi's Vintage Clothing reproductions and premium lines, so a selvedge pair with a modern care label is a reissue, not an original.

Read the waistband patch

The patch above the right back pocket carries the Two Horse logo.

Leather patch: before the mid-1950s (dealer guides give 1954 or 1955). After that, Levi's switched to a card-like "leather-like" patch.
"Every Garment Guaranteed" wording: dropped in the early 1960s (guides give dates between about 1960 and 1965).
Lot number: "501XX" on older pairs; the XX was dropped in the late 1960s. A lowercase "501xx" returned in the mid-1980s, and guides note a period of red-printed lot numbers around the early 1990s.
"Care instructions inside garment": a wording collectors associate with roughly 1968 to 1971.

Patches wear off, shrink or become illegible, so a missing patch is common and not a red flag by itself.

Rivets and bar tacks

Look at the back pockets and the crotch.

Exposed rivets on the back pockets: before 1937.
Hidden rivets (covered by the denim, visible only from inside the pocket): roughly 1937 to the mid-1960s.
Bar tacks instead of back-pocket rivets: mid-1960s onward. Almost every pair you will find falls here.
No crotch rivet, painted (not stitched) back-pocket arcuate: the wartime S501XX of about 1942 to 1947, when metal and thread use was restricted.

Fakes and reissues can replicate hidden rivets, so check that rivet backs look and wear like the rest of the jeans.

Back-pocket stitching and thread

Peek inside a back pocket at the stitching along the top hem. Collector guides describe single-needle lockstitch here on pairs made before the late 1970s (dates given vary from about 1976 to 1978), with chain-stitched pocket hems after. Yellow or lemon-coloured thread in places points to mid-1970s or earlier, according to one dealer guide.

The button stamp

The back of the top button (and sometimes the fly buttons) is stamped. Dealer guides agree on the broad pattern:

A single digit or letter: generally mid-1970s or earlier.
A three-digit number: typically 1980s to 2002. The number identifies the factory. "555" is widely identified as the Valencia Street plant in San Francisco.

There is no single published, verified list of every factory code from Levi Strauss & Co. Lists circulating online are collector-compiled and contradict each other in places. Use the button stamp to confirm what the other features say, not as a standalone build date.

The care label

Care labels are one of the most reliable dating tools because they follow regulation. The US Federal Trade Commission issued its Care Labeling Rule in December 1971 (36 FR 23883), after which garments carried sewn-in care instructions.

No care label, wash instructions printed on the pocket bag: roughly 1968 to 1971, according to dealer guides.
No care label at all and no pocket-bag printing: earlier still, if every other feature agrees.
Care label present: early 1970s or later. Dealer guides use details on the label (shrinkage percentage, a red batwing logo, "care on reverse" wording) to narrow it further.
Modern care label in a Big E pair: a reissue.

Labels also show country of manufacture. Levi's last US plant closed in 2002, so any pair made after that was made overseas. "Made in USA" is consistent with age, not proof of it. For more on reading these labels, see Dating Vintage Clothing by the Care Label and How to Date Vintage Clothing by the Label.

Quick dating table

Feature	Approximate era
No belt loops, cinch back	Pre-1922 (belt loops added 1922; cinch kept into the late 1930s)
Exposed back rivets	Pre-1937
Painted arcuate, no crotch rivet	c. 1942 to 1947 (S501XX)
Leather patch	Pre-mid-1950s
One-sided Big E tab	c. 1936 to early 1950s
Hidden back rivets	c. 1937 to mid-1960s
Big E, bar tacks, no care label	Mid-1960s to 1971
Small e, redline selvedge, care label	c. 1971 to mid-1980s
Orange then white overlock outseam	Early 1980s to early 1990s
Three-digit button stamp, Made in USA	c. 1980s to 2002

These ranges come from collector and dealer research, which itself notes that features overlap because many factories made 501s at once, especially in the 1960s. Expect transitional pairs.

Reissue versus original: the red flags

Big E tab with a modern, multilingual care label.
Selvedge outseam combined with a 1990s or later country-of-origin label.
Perfect, unworn leather patch on a heavily worn pair (or the opposite: a fresh-looking pair with an artificially aged patch).
Hidden rivets, cinch back and selvedge all together on a pair that does not show matching wear inside the pockets and waistband.
A seller who cannot show the inside of the waistband, the care label and the button back.

Ask for photos of the tab (both sides), outseam, patch, inside of a back pocket, button back and care label. A seller of a genuine Big E pair has every reason to show them.

Pricing a confirmed pair

Age is only part of value. Size (bigger waists and longer inseams are scarcer), fade, condition and repairs matter as much. Compare like with like in sold listings, for example check sold prices for levis big e 501 selvedge on eBay or check sold prices for levis 501 redline selvedge on eBay, and see Vintage Denim Values: What Old Levi's, Lee and Wrangler Sell For for price ranges.

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