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

[Vlad]

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!

 

[Minchanka]

We've said it over and over and OVER - the absolute WORST place anyone can turn to for authentication is Coach and their employees! I hope this helps prove our point. See the Salearea Guide on Authenticity Guide Facts and Myths for more details.
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Coach-Authenticity-Guides-Facts-and-Myths-/10000000062607882/g.html

As for what you can do - not a darned thing, except contact Coach and give them the serial number from a RECENT bag with brass hardware that someone who doesn't have their head up their backside might actually recognise as a Coach product, preferably from the last 10 years. Because if you're hoping that you can convince anyone at Coach that your briefcase is actually a Coach product you're wasting your time.

Speaking of which, I think these are the posts you're referring to:
https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/authenticate-this-coach.889527/page-1556#post-31451091

You finally posted photos of the briefcase a month later and it was authenticated. I agree that it's genuine:
https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/authenticate-this-coach.889527/page-1593#post-31535342

So other than finding another way to get a hangtag, which is just going to be brass and not be the same as the original, there's nothing you CAN do. Just accept it when we say from years of experience what I said in the first paragraph of my reply.

BTW, here's a photo of the Sumter from Coach's 1992 Fall Special Edition catalog. If you have the name of the self-appointed "expert" that you contacted at Coach you might want to send it to them. If it was just one of the regular Customer Service phone-bots, you're not going to get any satisfaction there either.

View attachment 3878173

Well, that wasn't my experience based on the people who do repairs in NY flagship store. Some of them are very knowledgeable, and that knowledge includes the older styles. I have the name of the person, but judging by the style of the response, it's an email bot, functionally speaking.

Thanks for the picture, will save it for my files.

 

[Minchanka]

No, but nearly all Sheridans had brown tags. The only exception would be black with black trim. Maybe you could just specify British tan.

But at that time the style number wasn't a part of the "serial number", or was it? How would they know it's a Sheridan? In any case, I called them to complain, and they said they will happily send me a brass tag, but they don't have matching leather ones on hands.

 

[Belicious]

Hi authenticators! I picked this up at Goodwill but I feel a little uneasy about it due to the "W" plant code. Is that legit? However, the bag looks exactly the same as others I have in the same style, I don't see anything about it that seems fishy or fake
9620, compact pouch? Thanks for checking it out for me:
8 x 8.5 x 1.5

 

[whateve]

Hi authenticators! I picked this up at Goodwill but I feel a little uneasy about it due to the "W" plant code. Is that legit? However, the bag looks exactly the same as others I have in the same style, I don't see anything about it that seems fishy or fake
9620, compact pouch? Thanks for checking it out for me:
8 x 8.5 x 1.5

I have no proof there was a W plant ever in US. The only records I have for W is China in 2003. It might be a case of another plant uisng the wrong plant code but there is no way to tell.

 

[Hyacinth]

Hi authenticators! I picked this up at Goodwill but I feel a little uneasy about it due to the "W" plant code. Is that legit? However, the bag looks exactly the same as others I have in the same style, I don't see anything about it that seems fishy or fake
9620, compact pouch? Thanks for checking it out for me:
8 x 8.5 x 1.5

That's only the second mid-1990s USA creed with a W plant code that I've seen, the other one in my files is the same style and serial number but it's Tan instead of black. It may have been a temporary plant since the code doesn't show up again until the early 2000s. There don't seem to be any other problems with the bags so it's probably genuine but there's just no way to be 100 percent sure without more examples.

Here are thumbnails of the other bag in my files:

 

[Hyacinth]

Well, that wasn't my experience based on the people who do repairs in NY flagship store. Some of them are very knowledgeable, and that knowledge includes the older styles. I have the name of the person, but judging by the style of the response, it's an email bot, functionally speaking.

Thanks for the picture, will save it for my files.

There's a big difference in the depth of knowledge between someone who's an experienced leatherworker and is handling examples of genuine Coach styles, old and new, on a daily basis compared to the experience, or lack of it, of someone who just answers the phones. I'd trust the leatherworker's judgement over the CS rep's, but I'd still want to have a qualified authenticator back it up. And even better if there's a catalog photo of the genuine style where the design details and the creed and serial number, or in this case the lack of one, are exactly right for the time period when the item was made.

You also asked "But at that time the style number wasn't a part of the "serial number", or was it?"
Some 1992 and 1993 Sheridans had stamped serial numbers (the old-style 4+3 all-numeric kind) and some didn't. But no genuine bags from before 1994 should have its style number in the serial, unless it happened completely by accident.

 

[okix]

Hi autheticators! I stumbled upon your site and found your thread in hoping to find someone who can help me in authenticating a bag i want to give my wife as a gift for her 41st bday this coming 11/22. I hope im in the right place ✌️

Item name: sorry i have no idea.
Link: sold privately

I attached a pix i got from a friends friend whos selling me. I dont really know anything about bags so i hope someone here could help me out. Thanks.

 

[Belicious]

That's only the second mid-1990s USA creed with a W plant code that I've seen, the other one in my files is the same style and serial number but it's Tan instead of black. It may have been a temporary plant since the code doesn't show up again until the early 2000s. There don't seem to be any other problems with the bags so it's probably genuine but there's just no way to be 100 percent sure without more examples.

Here are thumbnails of the other bag in my files:

View attachment 3878361 View attachment 3878362 View attachment 3878363 View attachment 3878364 View attachment 3878365

Interesting! Thanks! I guess I will go ahead and clean it up. I figure if the rehab isn't successful or the bag seems fake somehow, I can keep the turnlock set for spares at least. But once the sticker comes off I can't return it.

 

[Catbird9]

Thank you so much. I’m going to hunt for a picture of the Cody bow, as that’s my husband’s name. Would be cool to track one down. Is there any way to tell when my Taft was made based on it’s label?

Here's a catalog picture of the Cody Bag #9964 (color = Acorn!) I would love to find one too.

 

[BeenBurned]

View attachment 3878376 View attachment 3878377 Hi autheticators! I stumbled upon your site and found your thread in hoping to find someone who can help me in authenticating a bag i want to give my wife as a gift for her 41st bday this coming 11/22. I hope im in the right place ✌️

Item name: sorry i have no idea.
Link: sold privately

I attached a pix i got from a friends friend whos selling me. I dont really know anything about bags so i hope someone here could help me out. Thanks.

That's so sweet of you to give the bag for your wife's birthday.

I don't see any obvious problems with the pictures you've shown but ideally, I'd like to see more pictures and be able to read that piece of paper from "Grab." (I don't know what Grab is; maybe a consignment store?)

If you buy it and if you can get assurance that pending authentication, you can return if necessary, I'd like to see more pictures once you receive it.

 

[Canter]

Could you please authenticate the following purses? Here is the first one:
Item: Shopper Tote
Measurements: 14" L x 11" H x 5" W with a 50" strap
Location: In my possession

 

[Canter]

Here is the second one:
Item: Black Willis
Measurements: 10.5" L x 10" H x 3" W with a 48" strap
Location: In my possession

 

[Canter]

And the third:
Item: Tan Willis
Measurements: 10.5" L x 10" H x 3" W with a 48" strap
Location: In my possession

 

[whateve]

Could you please authenticate the following purses? Here is the first one:
Item: Shopper Tote
Measurements: 14" L x 11" H x 5" W with a 50" strap
Location: In my possession

Here is the second one:
Item: Black Willis
Measurements: 10.5" L x 10" H x 3" W with a 48" strap
Location: In my possession

And the third:
Item: Tan Willis
Measurements: 10.5" L x 10" H x 3" W with a 48" strap
Location: In my possession

All three are fine.

 

[Canter]

Thank you so much for your help, Whateve!