Hey everyone! My mom is downsizing and I found a HUGE box of vintage bags in her closet while packing. Alot of them are vintage Coach and some are other brands. Really neat stuff. Anyways, I've been googling ALOT and learning about serial numbers, creed stamps, etc. So I was able to aunthenticate quite a few on my own. But THIS bag is stumping me. I asked my mom and she told got it from a consignment shop when I was little so she doesn't remember. Knowing my mom, the MAJORITY of those bags came from a consignment shop. Lol anyways, here are the pics. I hope they show up. The serial number is super faded but I made out A5E-4403. I will post the pics in a second post. Thank you in advance for any help.
Welcome to tPF!
Just a warning about self-authenticating - we DON'T recommend it, because fakes of older or vintage bags were very common and just having the "right" serial number can NEVER prove a bag is authentic. The only way to really be sure is by posting photos. I strongly recommend you take the time and do that here with each bag just for your own peace of mind and to protect her or yourself from the chance of unknowingly selling a fake in the future. Consignment shops have sold plenty of fake "Coaches" without realizing it. One a bag is authenticated and identified, write the information on a slip of paper and tuck in an inside pocket.
We don't usually need as many as you posted for the first one - just front, back, one side showing how the strap is mounted, and most importantly one of the inside stamp showing the creed and serial number. Don't spend time photographing things like zippers, in most cases they don't tell us much. If we need more photos, we can ask. Also measurements are VERY important with older and vintage bags so please post them too.
Another problem with older Coaches is that not all the serial numbers can be searched or Googled! If they're older than 20 years they won't include a searchable style number, just a completly random all-number serial that was unique to each bag and can't be searched. Remember that most classic and vintage Coaches are much older than Google (which only started in 1999) and it's very possible that there's no valid searchable history of those styles.
Googling for information on Coaches can be dangerous. Most "authenticity guides" are completely useless and filled with misinformation and outright lies. Read my "signature" in purple at the bottom of each one of my posts to find out what almost ten years of experience with authenticating Coaches has taught me about those guides. That's why I researched and helped write a set of six Coach guides that's
accurate:
http://search.reviews.ebay.com/members/salearea_W0QQcpnameZmembersQQprZsaleareaQQuqtZg
The bag you posted has a different problem, a simple if unusual mistake by the factory. They simply stamped it with the wrong style number. I think it should have said A5E-4413, not 4403, depending on the bag's measurements. If you ever end up selling it you need to tell potential buyers about the stamping mistake up front. You didn't post measurements which would have been a big help but the style was called a Madison Gracie bag if it's very small, only about 7x6 inches. It's from what was at the time Coach's top line, the Madisons, made mostly in Italy of special leather and hardware found only in that line. They were made between 1993 and 1997, the year code in yours shows a date of January 1995. The set of six Salearea Coach guides that I posted a link to in the previous paragraph has a Guide specifically on the Italian styles like the Madisons.
Here's Coach's catalog photo from 1995:
