Authenticate This COACH - **see first post for format**

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#47,869
IMPORTANT READ-ME

Please post authenticity questions related to COACH in this thread. No PMs please.
For further information, please refer to the first post on page 1 of this thread.

Please follow the following requests:
  • Before you submit a request for authentication, please search this thread to make sure that the item has not previously been authenticated by searching the seller ID and/or item number. This is not a thread to ask general questions about COACH, please refer to our main Coach forum for such information.
  • Note that authenticators have the right to refuse any requests. This is a free service, but it is imperative that you help our authenticators by using the following format:
  • FOR ITEMS LISTED ONLINE:
    Item:
    Listing number:
    Seller and site where listed
    Link:
    Comments:

  • FOR ITEMS NOT LISTED ONLINE:
    Item:
    Where purchased or how obtained
    Comments:
BASIC PICTURES REQUIRED (but more may be requested): If necessary pictures are in the listing, it's not necessary to upload and duplicate them.
  • Front of item
  • Back of item
  • Full clear and legible creed text and serial number
  • Made in tags (when available)
  • Measurements
  • For bags with turnlock closures, show pictures of back of female side of turnlock
  • For bags with magnetic snaps, show pictures of the male part of the snap so that the numbers and letters on it can be read
  • If applicable, search interior of bag and/or pockets for small white tag with production information and include a picture of that.
Thank you and be safe!
 
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#21,196
Hyacinth said:
There are almost NO proveably genuine F plant code bags, and the only one(s) I've seen that I'm almost completely sure about are briefcases and don't match the serial number stamp on this one at all. But there's just not enough evidence to be sure either way other than the probably non--Coach turnlock. While I don't think it should be reported, I don't recommend buying it either.
Click to expand...

I'll put the only 2 F-plant bags - briefcases, actually - that I'm 100 percent sure of here in a separate post. First is a 5356 Candidate Brief with Madison-type caviar leather and correct details including the Madison creed wording. Second is a Hamilton Brief 5358, same month and a similar combination lock style, similar pigskin lining, and the correct creed wording for glove-tanned leather AND with an outlet stamp. Both examples perfectly match their photos and descriptions in the 1994 Fall Preview catalog.

This is also one of the only times if not THE only time that we've seen a Times New Roman-type font used for a serial number.

It's always possible that the F plant serial stamp may have been changed or replaced if was a "floater" and the code was used at other plants but there's just no way to prove that any of the others are genuine. And there have been at least half a dozen PROVEABLE fake F plant stamp bags.

1994_F-plant-US-5356_Candidate Brief-e.jpg 1994_F-plant-US-5356_Candidate Brief-a.jpg 5358_Hamilton Brief_F-Plant-US-H4F-5358-i.jpg 5358_Hamilton Brief_F-Plant-US-H4F-5358-d.jpg 5358_Hamilton Brief_F-Plant-US-H4F-5358-a.jpg
 
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#21,199
Hyacinth said:
I'll put the only 2 F-plant bags - briefcases, actually - that I'm 100 percent sure of here in a separate post. First is a 5356 Candidate Brief with Madison-type caviar leather and correct details including the Madison creed wording. Second is a Hamilton Brief 5358, same month and a similar combination lock style, similar pigskin lining, and the correct creed wording for glove-tanned leather AND with an outlet stamp. Both examples perfectly match their photos and descriptions in the 1994 Fall Preview catalog.

This is also one of the only times if not THE only time that we've seen a Times New Roman-type font used for a serial number.

It's always possible that the F plant serial stamp may have been changed or replaced if was a "floater" and the code was used at other plants but there's just no way to prove that any of the others are genuine. And there have been at least half a dozen PROVEABLE fake F plant stamp bags.

View attachment 3647948 View attachment 3647950 View attachment 3647955 View attachment 3647958 View attachment 3647960
Click to expand...
I have the first one in my files. I also have this one:F plant H4F business items.jpg

I have this one from a year later that looks like 5351.
 

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  • F plant 1995 H5F brief case US.jpg
    F plant 1995 H5F brief case US.jpg
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#21,202
dachsgirlknits said:
Would someone please authenticate this bag


Ebay
VINTAGE COACH EARLY 70's ERA BLACK LEATHER FEED SAC DUFFEL BUCKET BAG PURSE
Seller skicheckmate41

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-COA...818770?hash=item33cb38a352:g:qqMAAOSwol5Y2CEM

Thank you

Kim
Click to expand...

The bag is genuine but the seller's dating is WAAAAAAYY off. She claims some sloppy unprofessional "etching" of the digits "C71" inside the bag mean that it was made in 1971. I don't know who made that mark or when (possibly the leather supplier since they usually would mark or stamp the hides they sold to Coach), but the creed stamp says at the bottom "MADE IN THE UNITED STATES" and Coach didn't start using that phrase in place of "Made in New York City USA" UNTIL 1988, when they added several other plants in the USA and it's territories to what had only been the single NYC plant. Coach bags didn't even have ANY type of serial number until the late 1970s at the very earliest.

So PLEASE, always be careful of a seller's claims about dates, names and numbers, a lot of them have read some really bad "guides" that are full of mistakes and lies and seem determined to pass on the BS for all eternity.
 
#21,204
Hyacinth said:
The bag is genuine but the seller's dating is WAAAAAAYY off. She claims some sloppy unprofessional "etching" of the digits "C71" inside the bag mean that it was made in 1971. I don't know who made that mark or when (possibly the leather supplier since they usually would mark or stamp the hides they sold to Coach), but the creed stamp says at the bottom "MADE IN THE UNITED STATES" and Coach didn't start using that phrase in place of "Made in New York City USA" UNTIL 1988, when they added several other plants in the USA and it's territories to what had only been the single NYC plant. Coach bags didn't even have ANY type of serial number until the late 1970s at the very earliest.

So PLEASE, always be careful of a seller's claims about dates, names and numbers, a lot of them have read some really bad "guides" that are full of mistakes and lies and seem determined to pass on the BS for all eternity.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Hyacinth! I appreciate your expertise. I, too, thought that "C71" claim as "1971" was total BS. I am just looking. I am always careful about buying from sellers who have less than 100% positive feedback. I am looking, have not made any decisions.
In a related question, are bags made outside of the US, such as Costa Rica, of the same quality as the older US bags? I love thick leather, which is why I tend to prefer the older rather than contemporary bags.
 
#21,206
dachsgirlknits said:
Thanks, Hyacinth! I appreciate your expertise. I, too, thought that "C71" claim as "1971" was total BS. I am just looking. I am always careful about buying from sellers who have less than 100% positive feedback. I am looking, have not made any decisions.
In a related question, are bags made outside of the US, such as Costa Rica, of the same quality as the older US bags? I love thick leather, which is why I tend to prefer the older rather than contemporary bags.
Click to expand...

Most of us who've commented on that subject before rank the Costa Rica bags as high as the ones from the USA and Italy. Personally I'd rank those as the Top 3 for quality of leather and construction.
 
#21,207
Hyacinth said:
Most of us who've commented on that subject before rank the Costa Rica bags as high as the ones from the USA and Italy. Personally I'd rank those as the Top 3 for quality of leather and construction.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Good to know.

Interestingly enough, I noticed on the bag you authenticated that there are two rivets on each strap (versus the one on each strap on the bag I returned ) which makes more sense to me. I love big bags and love to load them with lots of items--water bottles, tablets, etc.

I saw another duffle on another site where the strap only had three grommets. Is that a clear sign of a fake?
 
#21,208
whateve said:
I have the first one in my files. I also have this one:View attachment 3647981

I have this one from a year later that looks like 5351.
Click to expand...

I also have one from 1995, H5F-5353 Diplomat Brief with a similar combination lock and pig suede lining and the same creed and serial font. Your 5351 was a Senator Brief, also pigskin lined but no combi lock. There are a few other briefcase styles from that late 1993-1995 period with style numbers in that 535* sequence that might have been made at the same plant. It seems like they specialized in the higher-end business cases.
 
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#21,209
dachsgirlknits said:
Thank you. Good to know.

Interestingly enough, I noticed on the bag you authenticated that there are two rivets on each strap (versus the one on each strap on the bag I returned ) which makes more sense to me. I love big bags and love to load them with lots of items--water bottles, tablets, etc.

I saw another duffle on another site where the strap only had three grommets. Is that a clear sign of a fake?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Pieces that can be and often are replaced like straps and hangtags should never be used as the ONLY proof that a bag is fake. Even turnlocks can be replaced with non-Coach designs, so problems with those parts always have to be backed up with other problems with the bag before it should be assumed to be fake. Post any questionable examples here for analysis and authentication.
 
#21,210
dachsgirlknits said:
Would someone please authenticate this bag


Ebay
VINTAGE COACH EARLY 70's ERA BLACK LEATHER FEED SAC DUFFEL BUCKET BAG PURSE
Seller skicheckmate41

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-COA...818770?hash=item33cb38a352:g:qqMAAOSwol5Y2CEM

Thank you

Kim
Click to expand...

whateve said:
It looks fine but the seller is way off on the date. It was made between 1989 and 1993.
Click to expand...

Hyacinth said:
The bag is genuine but the seller's dating is WAAAAAAYY off. She claims some sloppy unprofessional "etching" of the digits "C71" inside the bag mean that it was made in 1971. I don't know who made that mark or when (possibly the leather supplier since they usually would mark or stamp the hides they sold to Coach), but the creed stamp says at the bottom "MADE IN THE UNITED STATES" and Coach didn't start using that phrase in place of "Made in New York City USA" UNTIL 1988, when they added several other plants in the USA and it's territories to what had only been the single NYC plant. Coach bags didn't even have ANY type of serial number until the late 1970s at the very earliest.

So PLEASE, always be careful of a seller's claims about dates, names and numbers, a lot of them have read some really bad "guides" that are full of mistakes and lies and seem determined to pass on the BS for all eternity.
Click to expand...

dachsgirlknits said:
Thanks, Hyacinth! I appreciate your expertise. I, too, thought that "C71" claim as "1971" was total BS. I am just looking. I am always careful about buying from sellers who have less than 100% positive feedback. I am looking, have not made any decisions.
In a related question, are bags made outside of the US, such as Costa Rica, of the same quality as the older US bags? I love thick leather, which is why I tend to prefer the older rather than contemporary bags.
Click to expand...
LOL! I'd already multi-quoted some of the responses so decided to post anyway even though the seller skicheckmate41 was called on her nonsense explanation of the C71 marking.

I vote that the seller take up fiction writing!
 
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