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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#48,496
Please and thank you ! Forgot my manners for a minute. This isnt the first refinished bag I've listed on there. They have never asked me to authenticate any of my bags except for a marc Jacob's with great pics and a current COA from authenticate first.
 
#48,499
bolsathemosta said:
I just had my refinished willis station bag booted off of Mercari saying only they were unable to authenticate it. 'I've been buying, selling and customizing vintage coaches for years. Never have less than 3 in my closet and my first Coach bag my mom bought me in San Francisco when I was 12. I have, until now, been 100 percent confident in my ability to spot a fake.
So here it is , pardon my hands I just finished refinishing this bag. I bought her in a lot of vintage leather coaches last fall from the San Antonio online store.
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Which San Antonio online store are you referring to? It's authentic. The two tone is rare, which could be why they weren't sure it was authentic. I've never had them kick off any of my items or ask for authentication information. Do they only do this if things are priced over a certain amount?
 
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#48,501
whateve said:
Which San Antonio online store are you referring to? It's authentic. The two tone is rare, which could be why they weren't sure it was authentic. I've never had them kick off any of my items or ask for authentication information. Do they only do this if things are priced over a certain amount?
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I did the two toned on it. It was plain black
My listing clearly stated it was a refinished bag. I also left the strap undone so the buyer can choose whether they want it two toned or plain black. I have another small vintage flap bag on there that I recovered in a shimmery blue. And they didnt have a problem with that one. I am also refinishing a station bag from the 70's in a deep plum and mentioned it in the post.

I love these bags for their durability and willingness to come back to life if you know how to treat them, but they are a bit boring. I have another one from the San Antonio goodwill lot that has a picture of my westie transferred on it.

I have it posted on poshmark as well and they are fine with it.
 
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#48,503
bolsathemosta said:
I did the two toned on it. It was plain black
My listing clearly stated it was a refinished bag. I also left the strap undone so the buyer can choose whether they want it two toned or plain black. I have another small vintage flap bag on there that I recovered in a shimmery blue. And they didnt have a problem with that one. I am also refinishing a station bag from the 70's in a deep plum and mentioned it in the post.

I love these bags for their durability and willingness to come back to life if you know how to treat them, but they are a bit boring. I have another one from the San Antonio goodwill lot that has a picture of my westie transferred on it.

I have it posted on poshmark as well and they are fine with it.
Click to expand...
That explains the two tone. I thought I had seen it before. Have you listed it before, like a year or so ago?
 
#48,504
bolsathemosta said:
I did the two toned on it. It was plain black
My listing clearly stated it was a refinished bag. I also left the strap undone so the buyer can choose whether they want it two toned or plain black. I have another small vintage flap bag on there that I recovered in a shimmery blue. And they didnt have a problem with that one. I am also refinishing a station bag from the 70's in a deep plum and mentioned it in the post.

I love these bags for their durability and willingness to come back to life if you know how to treat them, but they are a bit boring. I have another one from the San Antonio goodwill lot that has a picture of my westie transferred on it.

I have it posted on poshmark as well and they are fine with it.
Click to expand...

I like the 2-tone blue with black. Did you change the hardware too? It looks like silver color. Authentic and made in 1998. Be sure to explain that the main panels were re-colored, or someone may report it as fake because of the 2-tone.

If the Station Bag you mentioned is actually a Station Bag style with the creed stamp on the inside pocket rather than on the back panel of the front pocket, it would be from the late 1980s, not the 1970s. The style name "Station Bag" wasn't introduced until 1987, along with styling changes from the previous "Shoulder Pouch Large" that came before it.

There's a lot of really bad information on the internet and on private websites about Coach dates based on equally bad information about serial numbers - don't depend on it!
 
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#48,505
whateve said:
That explains the two tone. I thought I had seen it before. Have you listed it before, like a year or so ago?
Click to expand...
No I just finished this one today. It's my first blue and black one. I have only been selling online since last October, but I've been rehabbing, refinishing and customizing old coaches for years. I have belonged to several groups and forums for this kind of thing and these are popular bags to do two tone finishes on though. I'm sure there are more floating around.
 
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#48,507
Hyacinth said:
I like the 2-tone blue with black. Did you change the hardware too? It looks like silver color. Authentic and made in 1998. Be sure to explain that the main panels were re-colored, or someone may report it as fake because of the 2-tone.

If the Station Bag you mentioned is actually a Station Bag style with the creed stamp on the inside pocket rather than on the back panel of the front pocket, it would be from the late 1980s, not the 1970s. The style name "Station Bag" wasn't introduced until 1987, along with styling changes from the previous "Shoulder Pouch Large" that came before it.

There's a lot of really bad information on the internet and on private websites about Coach dates based on equally bad information about serial numbers - don't depend on it!
Click to expand...
Yea It's not a station bag exactly. It just has a similar look. It could be younger than I think though. It just had a lot of wrinkles and a very old look to it. Definitely one of the rougher bags I've worked with. I just know Its before the creed changed with the style numbers. It has the Coach leatherware on the top and the made in the United states at the bottom. From what I've been lead to believe the numbers don't actually indicate it's made on date. I just know its before the creed changed and it looks just like the first coach bag that my mom gave me when she was done with it that would have been around 1979-80. I could be wrong though...it was a long time ago. That bag I did in a deep plum and black and it has brass hardware. Its taller than it is wide and doesnt have any zippers. Just slip pockets. The strap is also just a single strap with 2 brass claw closures, without a buckle on it.
The bag shown here is a much younger bag for sure. I didnt change the hardware, it came that way. I have seen others with the same silver hardware though.
 
#48,510
bolsathemosta said:
Yea It's not a station bag exactly. It just has a similar look. It could be younger than I think though. It just had a lot of wrinkles and a very old look to it. Definitely one of the rougher bags I've worked with. I just know Its before the creed changed with the style numbers. It has the Coach leatherware on the top and the made in the United states at the bottom. From what I've been lead to believe the numbers don't actually indicate it's made on date. I just know its before the creed changed and it looks just like the first coach bag that my mom gave me when she was done with it that would have been around 1979-80. I could be wrong though...it was a long time ago. That bag I did in a deep plum and black and it has brass hardware. Its taller than it is wide and doesnt have any zippers. Just slip pockets. The strap is also just a single strap with 2 brass claw closures, without a buckle on it.
The bag shown here is a much younger bag for sure. I didnt change the hardware, it came that way. I have seen others with the same silver hardware though.
Click to expand...

The format of the numbers can tell us when a bag was made, when combined with the wording of the creed and especially with how the creed shows where the bag was made. Those details changed often during the 1970s thru the 1990s but we can usually nail it down to within a few years.

There's a set of Guides posted here called the Salearea Coach Guides that have accurate information on dates and serial numbers, the link is posted right at the top of most pages here in the Coach Shopping forum:
https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/salearea-guides.983575/

or you can post photos of the Station-type bag along with the creed stamp and serial number at the ID This Coach thread in the "main" Coach forum and get a name and approximate date for your bags:
https://forum.purseblog.com/threads...st-any-coach-item-name-questions-here.355205/
Again, actual photos of the creed and serial number are extremely important when identifying, authenticating or dating a Coach bag.

Silver hardware only started to be used on Coach handbags in 1998 and was introduced at different times on different styles and lines between 1998 and 2000. Silver-color hardware became available on the Willis toward the end of 1998, but in the beginning only with Black or Gray leather. The black Willis in your photos that you two-toned was made in October 1998 so it would have been one of the first ones with silver or nickel-color hardware.
 
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