answers to AUTHENTICITY questions!!!

[Hyacinth]

Too many Coach buyers, especially the newer ones, still don't understand that Coach items, whether bags, wallets, wristlets, whatever, should HAVE BOTH HALVES OF THE c PATTERN ON THE FRONT MATCH EACH OTHER. In other wordas, the right and left halves of a Coach with standard Signature fabric should be MIRROR IMAGES of each other. If they're not, the item is almost always fake. There are less than half a dozen exceptions though, and bags like any of the Optic patterns, the Scarf Totes, and some Scribble Hobos don't follow this rule. But a Signature bag where the right and left sides aren't mirror images should be posted at the Authenticate This Coach thread for the experts to look at.

The first is Fake, the second is real:

 

[Hyacinth]

The same for wallets, Mini Skinnys, Wristlets, Cosmetic bags and other smaller pieces - the first is fake, the second is real - and BTW, just because the Cs ARE aligned correctly DOESN'T PROVE IT'S REAL.

 

[Hyacinth]

And a Reminder about KEYCHAINS... !!!

With very few exceptions, COACH KEYCHAINS DON'T COME WITH BOXES. If anyone's looking at a keychain for sale where a box or gift box is mentioned or shown in the photos, ASK at the Authenticate This Coach thread BEFORE YOU BID!

 

[cz22]

To report fakes:


"To report counterfeiters, please call the counterfeit hotline at (800) 396-1807 or e-mail the information requested below to to [email protected]. If you wish, you may remain anonymous. Please find below a list of the information that will assist Coach in taking action:

Where is the location?
What kind of location is it (i.e. retail, street vendor, flea market, internet, factory, etc.)? If you are reporting an internet auction seller, please provide the seller name and/or item number of the item at issue.
What quantities and styles are being sold?
Are counterfeits of any other companies present? If so, which companies?
Do the items bear any Coach trademarks (Coach name, logo, beaded chain and hangtag, Signature C), or are they confusingly similar to our designs and/or trademarks?"

Found on the Coach website: http://www.coach.com/online/handbags...h+Counterfeits

 

[Hyacinth]

It seems that a lot of our Coach lovers are getting into buying classic and vintage Coach leather bags. Most don't have any idea just how common it is to find fakes of older bags. Here are just a few things to watch out for.

1- Fake serial numbers:
Please read the posts earlier in this thread about how Coach serial numbers should look, and the Rules about "Rules" and "Authenticity Guides":
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-sh...henticity-questions-94198-18.html#post6416493

http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-sh...henticity-questions-94198-18.html#post6527257

and also my post listing some of the most commonly-used fake numbers - VERY IMPORTANT!:
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-sh...henticity-questions-94198-19.html#post8716549

2- "Stretch-marked" leather
Coach's older creeds mention "Scars, scratches, veins, and wrinkles" but that DOESN'T mean that a leather bag should be covered with stretch marks! These are signs of leather that's been stressed and stretched too much and on real bags the only place you should find stretch marks are areas like the bottom corners of a bag. When there are stretch marks in areas not usually pulled and stretched, that's a big red flag. Fakes makers overstretch their leather to give it the softness and flexibility of a genuine Coach

3- Unusual add-ons and colors
Coach NEVER added outside leather cell phone holders to any of its leather bags. They also seldom made classic leather bags in bright colors - most of their classic and vintage bags will be black, navy, brown, tan, or sometimes bone or dark green. Unusual colors can be a red flag.

Some other warning signs:
"Coach New York" stamped off-center on the front of the bag, too-short serial numbers or NO serial numbers, any bag stamped "Made In Korea", any bag with horizontal lines above AND below every digit of the serial number including the dash, any bag with "Coach" stamped on almost every piece of hardware, misspellings and incorrect punctuation in the creed stamp, etc. There are always going to be exceptions, but even experts still ask other experts to look over a bag before they bid. Always ask at the Authenticate This Coach forum before bidding on a classic or vintage bag. Some fakes especially some Korean-made ones have leather and stitching comparable to a genuine Coach and often the serial number or the creed font is the only thing that can prove they're fake.

Here's a fake that illustrates "stretch marks", a fake cell phone holder AND a fake serial number that's in the Fakes List:

 

[peekaboo]

I have a silly, nitty gritty question about the coach lozenges stamped on the buckles. Do anyone know if the buckles are machine molded and therefore should all be exactly the same (with the lozenges exactly the same buckle to buckle) or is the lozenges handstamped onto the buckles manually and therefore, could be a little different from buckle to buckle? E.g. 1 buckle stamping is lighter than the other, or the position could be slightly different, etc. This is because on 1 of my bag, the buckle of 1 side is stamped much deeper than the other and it turns out looking rough. This made me question its authenticity. I attach a pic of the 'offensive' buckle. Thanks!

 

[Hyacinth]

I have a silly, nitty gritty question about the coach lozenges stamped on the buckles. Do anyone know if the buckles are machine molded and therefore should all be exactly the same (with the lozenges exactly the same buckle to buckle) or is the lozenges handstamped onto the buckles manually and therefore, could be a little different from buckle to buckle? E.g. 1 buckle stamping is lighter than the other, or the position could be slightly different, etc. This is because on 1 of my bag, the buckle of 1 side is stamped much deeper than the other and it turns out looking rough. This made me question its authenticity. I attach a pic of the 'offensive' buckle. Thanks!

I doubt if anyone knows but if the rest of the bag is ok I wouldn't worry about the stamp. Coach buys their hardware from outside suppliers and doesn't have a lot of control over its manufacture.

 

[upscaleresale]

I've a general question about the appearance of the serial numbers. I have a briefcase similar to this one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...K:MEWAX:IT&item=350222047248#ebayphotohosting
(actually, exactly like it, but black.)
Under the creed, the serial numbers are stamped but it appears messily done, with lines above and below the numbers. I assumed this was fake. It it? (I have some thrift store purses stamped this way too.)
Interestingly, this ebay auction's # is K4B5275 while mine is G4B5275. They should be indiv numbered, yes?
My son wants to steal my bag for a college computer bag. It's a nice leather bag, regardless, but if it is real I may want to keep it!!
Thoughts?

 

[Hyacinth]

I've a general question about the appearance of the serial numbers. I have a briefcase similar to this one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...K:MEWAX:IT&item=350222047248#ebayphotohosting
(actually, exactly like it, but black.)
Under the creed, the serial numbers are stamped but it appears messily done, with lines above and below the numbers. I assumed this was fake. It it? (I have some thrift store purses stamped this way too.)
Interestingly, this ebay auction's # is K4B5275 while mine is G4B5275. They should be indiv numbered, yes?
My son wants to steal my bag for a college computer bag. It's a nice leather bag, regardless, but if it is real I may want to keep it!!
Thoughts?

If you read my links in the "Classic Coach" post just a few posts above yours you'll find some answers about serial numbers.

Please post photos of the bag and creed patch in the Authenticate this Coach thread and we'll take a look at it. Nothing can be authenticated without photos.

 

[Hyacinth]

Time for an update:

COACHES WITH THESE NUMBERS ARE ALWAYS FAKE
NT-4903
NT-4908
NT-4115
NT-4157
NT-9992
DK-8674
TF-6823
TN-4136
TN-4186
TN-9085
TN-9096
TN-9927
TN-9951

4C-8624
4C-9911
40-8624
7H-7456
KE-6042
JH-9080

ANY Coach bag with only two letters or one number and one letter to the left of the hyphen can be assumed to be fake.

501-20 + all similar numbers starting with 101-, 202-, 501-, 701-, etc., followed by 2 or 3 numbers after the dash and usually with a patch that says "made in Korea".

Coach NEVER made bags in Korea and never used serial numbers with only 5 or 6 digits like this:
"xxx-xx" or "xxx-xxx" and without the abbreviated "No." in front of the numbers. Except for a few items with 6-digit serial numbers made and marked for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Coach never used serial numbers with 6 digits or less.

Coach never made 'classic' leather bags with matching sewn-on cell phone holders.

These numbers on purses are always fake:

H4B-0516

H4B-0678

H4B-0517

H4B-0520

H4B-0532

HRB-0516

Probably ANY serial number beginning with H4B followed by a style # beginning with 05xx is probably fake (bags with style numbers beginning with 98xx or 99xx are usually genuine)

012-3445

A2G-6094 and A2J-6094 - or ANY bag ending in 6094 - Fake if it's NOT a Demi Bag

A5B-3906 - fake Sonoma Double Zip Bags

J4D-4133 - Fake if it's NOT a Waverly Bag

L4C-9941 or LAC-9941

M4N-4154
Anything starting with M4N is suspect.

0444-317, 0444-316 AND 0444-315 and possibly others beginning with 0444 - some "classic" fakes are showing up with these numbers and have a number of mistakes in the creed stamps and on the bags themselves. Assume they're all fake.
0212-578 with the same fake "Overstamping" lines has also recently shown up

00138 - always fake, with or without any numbers or letters in front of it

308-9875

308-9937 - probably fake

DEJ-9816 and ECC-9816 - fake prefix and incorret suffix, 9816 belongs to a "classic" Duffle Sac

There are some ending in -9927 but aren't Willis Bags

There are fake Signature Stripe Denim Totes and Signature Stripe Denim Satchels using fake serial numbers ending in 11192 and 11190. All these bags are counterfeit. Coach didn't use these numbers in any of their bags.

Any recent (made later than 2004) or current model bag with a serial prefix of M3U- is fake. A genuine bag with this number would have been made in 2003.

Any bag with a style number of -6047 that isn't a fabric Signature Satchel

The counterfeiters also use many legitimate-looking serial numbers but on the wrong style bags or accessories, like:
-5659 which should only be on a Scribble Tote,
-6094 which should only be on a Signature Demi, and
-1417 which should only be on an East-West Leather duffle. These three numbers are special favorites with counterfeiters and have appeared on thousands of fakes.

Accessories with style #-5077 are fake, that number belongs to an Optic Bee Tote.

Bags beginning with K3H-, J8H-, and M4B- prefixes are possible counterfeits especially if the font of the digits of the serial number seems slightly different.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


Fake numbers L4C-9941 and LAC-9941 and possibly other combinations ending in 9941 are showing up on a variety of classic-looking leather bags, most with badly wrinkled "stretch-marked" leather and a "Coach" imprint somewhere on the front of the bag, usually off-center. They'll sometimes have cell phone holders sewn on the side of the bag. Coach NEVER sewed cell phone holders on the outside of its classic leather bags.

GAC- and GAG- prefixes have also turned up lately. ANY bag with just three LETTERS to the left of the dash is fake. Be careful not to mistake a Zero in the center position for the letter O though, all bags made in 2000 will have a zero in the center.

we've seen several Coaches with this serial number:
P7B-4907
Not only are the bags NOT Sonoma Small Bucket Zips, but the first digit "P" is completely wrong and would never be used on ANY Coach. Any bag with this serial number is counterfeit.

Fakes are also showing up with the # J4N-4082 which belongs ONLY to a Soho Bag from 1994.

Any bag with a serial # ending in -9956 needs to be looked at by someone very familiar with Coach

Any 'classic' leather bags with the # 0444-31(X) and heavy vertical lines both above and below the numbers is fake. See the photo at the bottom of this post.

More fake 'classic' leather Coaches are showing up with bad creeds and the bogus "overstamping lines" above and below the serial numbers. The latest one is a fake light blue tote (always be careful with older bags in unusual colors, Coach's classic leather colors were pretty conservative so anything besides the usual black, brown, navy, mahogany, British Tan, dark green etc should be examined closely).
Also watch for these numbers - 0212-578 and 1212-578

Any bag (especially any in the Hippie Flap style) with a serial number of H6S-9135 should be referred to the posters at this board for authentication. The style number belongs only to a Leather Hippie Flap bag but the ones we've seen with this number are either the wrong fabric or have invalid code digits and badly-stamped creeds.

Also look VERY carefully at classic bags beginning with " H6M- " and with "Made in the United States" at the bottom of the creed, quite a few fakes seem to use this prefix.

And a lot of newer style Coaches are showing up with only a 5-digit number after the "No", either on the same line as the last words of the creed or by itself at the bottom of the patch - number 00138 is the most common. All these are fake. Coach serial numbers will never have only five digits.

Serial numbers beginning with the letters N thru Z are not valid Coach numbers and are almost certainly fake

Any bag with a tag or patch that says "Sports Coach" is NOT a genuine Coach

Please remember, just because a Coach item seems to have the right style number, or looks just like the picture from Coach's website, that doesn't mean it's genuine. And just because you haven't seen a certain style before doesn't mean it's fake.

Here's an example of fake "overstamping" lines with a known fake vintage serial number:

 

[pealow]

Where can I find "the drilldown" or pictures of older coach bags. The coach.com website only has brand new collections. I'd like to see pics of collections from say the past 2 or 3 years. Does such an archive exist

Thanks,
Paula

 

[cz22]

Where can I find "the drilldown" or pictures of older coach bags. The coach.com website only has brand new collections. I'd like to see pics of collections from say the past 2 or 3 years. Does such an archive exist

Thanks,
Paula

Check the wayback machine: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.coach.com
The only "drilldown" currently available only shows newer items.

 

[luralee]

Time for an update:

COACHES WITH THESE NUMBERS ARE ALWAYS FAKE
NT-4903
NT-4908
NT-4115
NT-4157
NT-9992
DK-8674
TF-6823
TN-4136
TN-4186
TN-9085
TN-9096
TN-9927
TN-9951

4C-8624
4C-9911
40-8624
7H-7456
KE-6042
JH-9080

ANY Coach bag with only two letters or one number and one letter to the left of the hyphen can be assumed to be fake.

501-20 + all similar numbers starting with 101-, 202-, 501-, 701-, etc., followed by 2 or 3 numbers after the dash and usually with a patch that says "made in Korea".

Coach NEVER made bags in Korea and never used serial numbers with only 5 or 6 digits like this:
"xxx-xx" or "xxx-xxx" and without the abbreviated "No." in front of the numbers. Except for a few items with 6-digit serial numbers made and marked for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Coach never used serial numbers with 6 digits or less.

Coach never made 'classic' leather bags with matching sewn-on cell phone holders.

These numbers on purses are always fake:

H4B-0516

H4B-0678

H4B-0517

H4B-0520

H4B-0532

HRB-0516

Probably ANY serial number beginning with H4B followed by a style # beginning with 05xx is probably fake (bags with style numbers beginning with 98xx or 99xx are usually genuine)

012-3445

A2G-6094 and A2J-6094 - or ANY bag ending in 6094 - Fake if it's NOT a Demi Bag

A5B-3906 - fake Sonoma Double Zip Bags

J4D-4133 - Fake if it's NOT a Waverly Bag

L4C-9941 or LAC-9941

M4N-4154
Anything starting with M4N is suspect.

0444-317, 0444-316 AND 0444-315 and possibly others beginning with 0444 - some "classic" fakes are showing up with these numbers and have a number of mistakes in the creed stamps and on the bags themselves. Assume they're all fake.
0212-578 with the same fake "Overstamping" lines has also recently shown up

00138 - always fake, with or without any numbers or letters in front of it

308-9875

308-9937 - probably fake

DEJ-9816 and ECC-9816 - fake prefix and incorret suffix, 9816 belongs to a "classic" Duffle Sac

There are some ending in -9927 but aren't Willis Bags

There are fake Signature Stripe Denim Totes and Signature Stripe Denim Satchels using fake serial numbers ending in 11192 and 11190. All these bags are counterfeit. Coach didn't use these numbers in any of their bags.

Any recent (made later than 2004) or current model bag with a serial prefix of M3U- is fake. A genuine bag with this number would have been made in 2003.

Any bag with a style number of -6047 that isn't a fabric Signature Satchel

The counterfeiters also use many legitimate-looking serial numbers but on the wrong style bags or accessories, like:
-5659 which should only be on a Scribble Tote,
-6094 which should only be on a Signature Demi, and
-1417 which should only be on an East-West Leather duffle. These three numbers are special favorites with counterfeiters and have appeared on thousands of fakes.

Accessories with style #-5077 are fake, that number belongs to an Optic Bee Tote.

Bags beginning with K3H-, J8H-, and M4B- prefixes are possible counterfeits especially if the font of the digits of the serial number seems slightly different.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


Fake numbers L4C-9941 and LAC-9941 and possibly other combinations ending in 9941 are showing up on a variety of classic-looking leather bags, most with badly wrinkled "stretch-marked" leather and a "Coach" imprint somewhere on the front of the bag, usually off-center. They'll sometimes have cell phone holders sewn on the side of the bag. Coach NEVER sewed cell phone holders on the outside of its classic leather bags.

GAC- and GAG- prefixes have also turned up lately. ANY bag with just three LETTERS to the left of the dash is fake. Be careful not to mistake a Zero in the center position for the letter O though, all bags made in 2000 will have a zero in the center.

we've seen several Coaches with this serial number:
P7B-4907
Not only are the bags NOT Sonoma Small Bucket Zips, but the first digit "P" is completely wrong and would never be used on ANY Coach. Any bag with this serial number is counterfeit.

Fakes are also showing up with the # J4N-4082 which belongs ONLY to a Soho Bag from 1994.

Any bag with a serial # ending in -9956 needs to be looked at by someone very familiar with Coach

Any 'classic' leather bags with the # 0444-31(X) and heavy vertical lines both above and below the numbers is fake. See the photo at the bottom of this post.

More fake 'classic' leather Coaches are showing up with bad creeds and the bogus "overstamping lines" above and below the serial numbers. The latest one is a fake light blue tote (always be careful with older bags in unusual colors, Coach's classic leather colors were pretty conservative so anything besides the usual black, brown, navy, mahogany, British Tan, dark green etc should be examined closely).
Also watch for these numbers - 0212-578 and 1212-578

Any bag (especially any in the Hippie Flap style) with a serial number of H6S-9135 should be referred to the posters at this board for authentication. The style number belongs only to a Leather Hippie Flap bag but the ones we've seen with this number are either the wrong fabric or have invalid code digits and badly-stamped creeds.

Also look VERY carefully at classic bags beginning with " H6M- " and with "Made in the United States" at the bottom of the creed, quite a few fakes seem to use this prefix.

And a lot of newer style Coaches are showing up with only a 5-digit number after the "No", either on the same line as the last words of the creed or by itself at the bottom of the patch - number 00138 is the most common. All these are fake. Coach serial numbers will never have only five digits.

Serial numbers beginning with the letters N thru Z are not valid Coach numbers and are almost certainly fake

Any bag with a tag or patch that says "Sports Coach" is NOT a genuine Coach

Please remember, just because a Coach item seems to have the right style number, or looks just like the picture from Coach's website, that doesn't mean it's genuine. And just because you haven't seen a certain style before doesn't mean it's fake.

Here's an example of fake "overstamping" lines with a known fake vintage serial number:

Great info, Hyacinth! Thanks.

 

[Sunflower Girl]

I recently purchased a Coach bag at a second hand store for only $25 and after reading some of these threads I am wondering if it is a fake or real.
I have added some pictures to help. The Number on the tag is "NO DEJ-9816" which is said could be a fake, but everything else appears to be okay. Can some one please verify if I do indeed have a fake or did I get a bargain. How can I know for sure?

Thanks so much
Sunflower Girl

 

[Hyacinth]

I recently purchased a Coach bag at a second hand store for only $25 and after reading some of these threads I am wondering if it is a fake or real.
I have added some pictures to help. The Number on the tag is "NO DEJ-9816" which is said could be a fake, but everything else appears to be okay. Can some one please verify if I do indeed have a fake or did I get a bargain. How can I know for sure?

Thanks so much
Sunflower Girl

First of all, all authenticity questions should be posted in the Authenticate This Coach thread.

And you aready found the answer. That number is ALWAYS fake, not "could be". Read the list again. "Fake prefix" means just that, AND the style number belongs to a different bag. "DEJ-9816 and ECC-9816 - fake prefix and incorret suffix, 9816 belongs to a "classic" Duffle Sac"

Sorry. Take the bag back and insist on a full refund.