Does a button in the ear mean the bear is old?

It means someone put a Steiff-style button in an ear, and on a real Steiff it is the trademark. New bears still leave the factory with a button. Read the tag. A bright current tag is current stock. A missing tag is a missing date, not a license to pick an early year.

What is a Steiff replica?

A bear Steiff makes now, modeled on an older design, and marked as a replica. It can be well made and still is not the archive bear it copies. Title it as a replica. Comp other replicas of that item number, not a museum story.

The tag is gone. Can I still sell it?

Yes, as a mohair or plush bear with a button and no tag, if that is what you can show. Measure it. Describe the pads and the nose. Do not invent the item number. The sale is weaker because the number is the search.

How much is a Steiff teddy bear worth?

A Steiff bear is a button in the ear and a tag with a number. Mohair, joints, and a replica tag separate a bear from a story about 1904.

By WorthLast updated October 21, 2026Collectibles Thrifting Journal

Short answerA Steiff teddy is named by the button in the ear and the number on the tag, not by any jointed bear. Mohair, a missing tag, and a replica mark change the sale. A new tag is current stock. Compare sold listings of that number. A photo can show the button and still miss a split seam.

Steiff’s mark is a metal button in the ear, the “button in ear,” used on animals that left the factory in Giengen. A tag is fastened to that button. The tag’s color and cloth changed over the decades, and Steiff’s own current ranges use different tags on purpose: a new Friends bear, an Originals bear, and a Collectors piece are not the same product. A bright modern hang tag on synthetic plush is current stock. A worn paper or cloth flag on a mohair bear is an older object. The tag color alone is not a year. The number printed on the tag is the search.

Everything else is condition and construction. Mohair, the goat-hair cloth, is the classic teddy material. Synthetic plush is a different bear. Jointed limbs, a hand-stitched nose, worn pads, replaced eyes, and a seam that has opened are what a buyer will ask about. Steiff also makes replicas of historic bears. The company’s own description of those replicas is that they are new bears modeled on an archive piece, marked as replicas, sometimes with a button that refers to the year of the replica. A replica is not the old bear. A button can be added to a bear that never was a Steiff. The button has to agree with the seams, the nose, and the tag. This page will not date a bear from a story about 1904. Photograph the button and the number.

What should you look for?

Button and tag: A metal button in one ear, usually discussed as the left, and a tag on it. Read the words and the item number. If the tag is gone, say the tag is gone. A button with no tag and no other Steiff construction is a button, not an identification. Do not sew a tag back on and call it factory.
Mohair or plush: Mohair has a shine and a denser, scratchier pile. Synthetic plush is softer and usually later or a current Friends-type bear. Bald patches are condition. A restuffed bear that no longer has the old shape is an altered bear. Say altered.
Joints, nose, pads, eyes: Arms and legs that swivel are jointed. Some bears are not. Pads wear through. A nose that has been re-embroidered is a repair. Glass or plastic eyes that do not match are replacements. Photograph the pads and the nose. Do not “clean up” the embroidery for the photo.
Replica and current tags: A white or colored tag that the current Steiff site assigns to Friends, Originals, or Collectors is a current category, not a 1920s date. Replica tags say they are replicas. A limited-edition sentence on a tag is the sentence you quote. Do not add a production count the tag does not print.

What moves the price?

The number on the tag: That number is the comp. Size is often part of the same tag, in centimeters. A 12-centimeter bear and a 40-centimeter bear with similar faces are different listings. If the tag is missing, you are in a weaker sale. Describe mohair, joints, and size measured, and do not invent the catalog number.
Old, new, or replica: A worn mohair bear, a new bear in a current tag, and a replica of a historic bear are three markets. The replica can be desirable and still must not be titled as the year it portrays. The year it portrays is the costume. The year it was made is the tag.
Condition you can feel: Bald mohair, split seams, replaced pads, a smell, and stuffing that has collapsed. Some buyers want play wear. Price the wear you can show. A “studio” photo that hides the bald spot is the return. Stuffing that crackles can be wood wool. Say what you feel. Do not name a fill you did not open a seam to see.
The button is not a date: Button size and lettering changed many times. A phone photo of a button does not make a bear an early production piece. If you cannot compare the button with a reference you trust, do not type a year. Search the tag number, or describe an untagged mohair bear and stop.

Where can you sell it?

eBay and teddy dealers: Item number, size, mohair or plush, jointed or not, and the faults. Photos of the button, the tag, the pads, and the nose. A dealer’s offer on a bear you cannot identify is a dealer’s number. It is still better than a title that says 1904 because the bear is old and brown.
Local: Right for a bear with no tag, a bear with a smell, and a current plush you do not want to ship. Let the buyer see the ear. Do not mail a bear you have not photographed honestly. The fee and the mailer still apply to a small one.
Keep: A bear with a family story is allowed to stay a bear. The story is not a provenance document unless someone wrote it down with the tag. Enjoy the story. Do not put it in the title as a year.

What can a photo settle?

The whole bear, the ear with the button and the tag readable, the nose, both pads, and a joint if you claim it is jointed. Worth can recognize a teddy and a button in the ear when the ear is in frame. It cannot read a worn item number, tell mohair from a good synthetic in one soft photo, or prove a button was not added later.

What else do people ask?

Does a button in the ear mean the bear is old?: It means someone put a Steiff-style button in an ear, and on a real Steiff it is the trademark. New bears still leave the factory with a button. Read the tag. A bright current tag is current stock. A missing tag is a missing date, not a license to pick an early year.
What is a Steiff replica?: A bear Steiff makes now, modeled on an older design, and marked as a replica. It can be well made and still is not the archive bear it copies. Title it as a replica. Comp other replicas of that item number, not a museum story.
The tag is gone. Can I still sell it?: Yes, as a mohair or plush bear with a button and no tag, if that is what you can show. Measure it. Describe the pads and the nose. Do not invent the item number. The sale is weaker because the number is the search.