TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead
Call Me a Cab
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I forget the exact numbers (although they weren't all that exact) but basically they started numbering in 1984 or 1985 if I recall. Roughly 2000-3000 jackets a year. My Enfield has a 50000 number and I confirmed the date was Sept or Oct 2000. The new jackets are in the 80k range. The 1990s started with roughly a 20k number. So you do some law of averages basic math if you want to ball park it.
But from what I remember, anything custom or special edition had a different numbering system. So who knows. Best to contact Vanson if you really want to know. But the above gave me a good guide when I was trying to hunt down jackets that had the older comp weight leather.
Other indicators like a talon zip, white label vs current label, no ID whatsoever also give clues. 2 of the Vansons I've had or still have had no ID number and slight variations on how the size tag was done so I was able to date them to early 80s and mid 80s.
And as far as what the numbers mean (i.e. like Schotts 5th number is the second digit of the year produced), I don't have any info on whether the Vanson numbers have something similar. From what I can tell, it's pretty chronological. So basically the smaller the number, the closer you are to that starting point in the mid 80s. But I don't know what the letters mean.
