Year Codes on Wilson Caps

[Insomniac186]

I recently purchased a Phillies cap made by Wilson that has "EVC" (or "EVO") stamped onto the sweatband. I know that there is a way to figure out what year it was made by that code so I was wondering how to do it. Pardon me if this has been discussed before.

Thanks!

[Tallyman77]

Hi.....here is information concerning Wilson date codes. Wilson Sporting Goods designed a letter code that can be found in most of its caps from the early 1950's through the end of their dominance in the major league cap field, which was the early 1970's. Inside the sweatband you'll see a rubber-stamped three letter code. The first letter signifies the year, the second letter the month of manufacture and the third letter is always "C" for cap. Here is how the code works:

First Letter:

A - last digit of the year is 8
B -9
C -0
D -1
E -2
F -3
G -4
H -5 (Note: There is no "I" in this code)
J -6
K -7

Second Letter:

Z - January
Y - February
X - March
W -April
V - May
U - June
And so on.......

So your cap with EVC would have been manufactured in May 1962 or 1972. The style of the cap usually makes it easy to pin down the precise year. The date code is really beneficial making authenticating a specific player's cap somewhat easier. Obviously, if a cap was manufactured after a player had already been sent elsewhere, he couldn't have worn that cap.

Hope this helps.......feel free to email anytime concerning caps. :)

-Walt Tallyman77 Evergreen7777@att.net

[Insomniac186]

Thank you very much! That's extremely helpful. 1972 would most likely be the correct year for my cap.

I actually sent you an email back in September. Let me know if you saw it.