VLOOKUP and Dates

I'm trying to get VLOOKUP to recognize / select a date from a column of dates arranged in chronological order (and return the corresponding value in another column). Problem: the function doesn't seem to want to recognise for example 28/6/2013 but only the same value in serial date number format (41453). I can add a column with the two formats side by side but the idea is to input and look up a date that means something, not a number!! I think in Quattro there was an @@ function that returned a referenced cell, which might have worked somehow, but trying around with OFFSET and INDIRECT hasn't brought a solution. I've a feeling that there's a solution staring me in the face but can anyone help with a wee bit lateral thinking?

Tks for the reply in nanoseconds!

Briefly (cos it's getting late here) if I type literally 28/6/2013 in a cell Excel converts that (I understand) to a date number. Using isnumber on that cell returns true. But this input produces N/A from the function. My adjoining column has "=" followed by a reference to the cell in question, but I have then formatted the cell to show a number: 41453. VLOOKUP recognizes the reformatted cell (as it does if I manually type 41453 into the formula which was to be expected) but not the "human" date. It looks like VLOOKUP is fooled simply by the different format which surprises me. If this doesn't make sense please say and I can send a simple example as you suggest.

I think the solution came whilst I was making a cup of tea. I get VLOOKUP to search for the serial number in a cell which is in tern connected to the "date" cell by "=". Easier to show than to explain but I wanted to avoid causing readers sleepless nights unnecessarily.
If by tomorrow it fails I will revisit the forum!

Midnight oil seems to have done the trick. If come the morning the flaws begin to appear then it's nice to know that there's yourselves to call on!