AUTHENTICATE This COACH

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#1,666
Jeannam2008 said:
I went to an antique mall in PA today and found a few Coach purses all were "vintage" and were only for $25.00. I did buy one. It's a Cross Body Bag and I wanted to post the pictures here of it and see if you all can tell me if it is an authentic purse.

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It looks like an authentic "Prairie bag" from 1996.

:smile1:
 
#1,668
Jeannam2008 said:
Awesome. I'm going back to the mall this week to get the other ones since they were only $25.00. Thats a deal I can't pass up! Does anyone know how much this bag retailed for?
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:p That's how I acquired all of my nieces' Dooney & Bourkes. Their mothers refused to believe that's where I found them, and refused to believe I only paid about that price. Good job.
 
#1,670
Hyacinth said:
!- The serial number probably starts with 618- , it can't be 61B, newer numbers from 1994 or later that include the style number always have to start with a letter. So it's not made in 2001 either. It's one of the Drawstring Sacs from around 1987, probably the Small if it's about 8.5 inches high. The Made in USA stamp is unusual and has shown up on fakes but also on some apparently genuine bags too.

2- It SEEMS ok, but M is one of the plant codes that turn up with different countries' creeds so it's hard to be 100 percent sure. I'd call it "probably genuine." Sometimes (a LOT of times!) it's impossible to be really sure because no one knows how often Coach broke its own rules about those plant codes or how often an item stamped for one country would actually have been made in another and the item stamped Made in The US. With Coach beating their chests so much about being an American company promoting American style, I'm sure they got a lot of criticism when they started manufacturing outside the US. This may have been one way to silence their critics. But no one who was there knows, and if they know, they ain't talking, at least not to me.

3- M is the standard code for December - my posts explain that the letter "i" as a month code was usually skipped. AGAIN, there are exceptions. It's a genuine Sonoma Drawstring.

4- Legacy Crescent, 2001. Sometimes that hyphen shows up, it's only a red flag when there's a second one actually in the number itself. The "No" isn't considered part of the serial number.

5- Don't be so concerned with where the Made In is stamped as long as it's not on the bottom in 1996 or later. Like I said, it was changed gradually over 2 years. There are almost NO cut-and-dried Rules about creed stampings. Keep repeating this until it's engraved on your brain - "the most consistent thing about Coach is its inconsistency". As for the pocket, I have NO idea where it's supposed to be. When you find something like that, the best thing is to use Ebay's Advanced Search, specify Search Titles and Descriptions, and see if you can find more like it.

Instructions for effectively using Ebay's Advanced Search are here, post 997:
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/authenticate-this-coach-694619-67.html#post19706584
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Hyacinth,
I appreciate all of your information! ... I have your quote in my brain ~ I suppose that very inconsistency is what makes all of the Coach history so fascinating and challenging :)
Thank you for the link also for the advanced Ebay Search - I've only used the normal one so its a great resource!
It is interesting to note that M stands for December. I wonder why they usually skipped I as a month.
Thank you Hyacinth!
 
#1,671
2011vintage said:
Hyacinth,
I appreciate all of your information! ... I have your quote in my brain ~ I suppose that very inconsistency is what makes all of the Coach history so fascinating and challenging :)
Thank you for the link also for the advanced Ebay Search - I've only used the normal one so its a great resource!
It is interesting to note that M stands for December. I wonder why they usually skipped I as a month.
Thank you Hyacinth!
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Because it's too easy to confuse the letter "I" with the number "1". Car manufacturers did the same when creating auto serial numbers.
 
#1,672
Item: Coach Station Bag, L4C-5130
Link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/77171201/vtg-coach-5130-red-willis-station?ref=sc_1
Comments: Picture of the creed is attached below! Also, what is the difference between the Coach 9927 Willis and the Coach 5130 Station?

Item: Coach Prairie Bag, F5C-9954, Made in the USA
Link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72111976/vintage-coach-black-prarie-handbag-purse
Comments: I don't have a picture of the creed but I could get one

Item: Coach Willis
Link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/8022070...to=US&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_facet=vintage
Comments: First 3 digits of serial are "JHM" - doesn't the second digit have to be a number?

Thanks again!!
 

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#1,673
hkittystudent said:
Item: Coach Station Bag, L4C-5130
Link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/77171201/vtg-coach-5130-red-willis-station?ref=sc_1
Comments: Picture of the creed is attached below! Also, what is the difference between the Coach 9927 Willis and the Coach 5130 Station?

Item: Coach Prairie Bag, F5C-9954, Made in the USA
Link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72111976/vintage-coach-black-prarie-handbag-purse
Comments: I don't have a picture of the creed but I could get one

Item: Coach Willis
Link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/8022070...to=US&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_facet=vintage
Comments: First 3 digits of serial are "JHM" - doesn't the second digit have to be a number?

Thanks again!!
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1- Unfortunately the creed picture won't enlarge so I can't be sure if it's authentic although I don't see any red flags. It's not vintage though. Can you see if you can post a larger photo? Also both styles are still on Coach's website, check there for descriptions that will help you compare the two.

2- It seems to be ok and enough of the creed is visible so that we won't need a separate photo. Looks ok but it's NOT technically Vintage, which with handbags is usually defined as at least 20 years old.

3- Fake. Invalid serial number, not just the incorrect digits (like you noticed, the middle digit in the first half should always be a number) but the fonts of the letters and numbers are completely different, two of the turnlock details are wrong, the strap is wrong, the flap looks too long, one of the D-rings holding the short handle on doesn't even look as if it's mounted correctly in the dowel and looks as if it's about to rip right through the leather, there's no leather "cap" over at least one end of the dowel, and the stitching on the inside pocket shown in the creed photo doesn't even match the leather color. Coach's photo is below for comparison.
 

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#1,674
Hyacinth said:
1- Unfortunately the creed picture won't enlarge so I can't be sure if it's authentic although I don't see any red flags. It's not vintage though. Can you see if you can post a larger photo? Also both styles are still on Coach's website, check there for descriptions that will help you compare the two.

2- It seems to be ok and enough of the creed is visible so that we won't need a separate photo. Looks ok but it's NOT technically Vintage, which with handbags is usually defined as at least 20 years old.

3- Fake. Invalid serial number, not just the incorrect digits (like you noticed, the middle digit in the first half should always be a number) but the fonts of the letters and numbers are completely different, two of the turnlock details are wrong, the strap is wrong, the flap looks too long, one of the D-rings holding the short handle on doesn't even look as if it's mounted correctly in the dowel and looks as if it's about to rip right through the leather, there's no leather "cap" over at least one end of the dowel, and the stitching on the inside pocket shown in the creed photo doesn't even match the leather color. Coach's photo is below for comparison.
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Wow!! Thank you Hyacinth for your help and fast responses! Just reading that last analysis of the bag blew me away. You notice so many things about the bag that I couldn't have possibly noticed! Thank you again so much for your help.

Here's a link to a bigger picture of the Coach red station bag creed: http://www.etsy.com/conversations/image?convo_id=56562853&image_id=13497888&image_type=full

Last question: On the inside of both of my other two authentic vintage Coach bags (Court and City - you authenticated them yesterday), on the side of the purse directly across from the creed side, there seems to be a number stamped on or inked on in gold. But you can only read one or two of the numbers because the other numbers seemed to have rubbed off over time. Do you happen to know what this could be? Thanks!
 
#1,676
hkittystudent said:
Wow!! Thank you Hyacinth for your help and fast responses! Just reading that last analysis of the bag blew me away. You notice so many things about the bag that I couldn't have possibly noticed! Thank you again so much for your help.

Here's a link to a bigger picture of the Coach red station bag creed: http://www.etsy.com/conversations/image?convo_id=56562853&image_id=13497888&image_type=full

Last question: On the inside of both of my other two authentic vintage Coach bags (Court and City - you authenticated them yesterday), on the side of the purse directly across from the creed side, there seems to be a number stamped on or inked on in gold. But you can only read one or two of the numbers because the other numbers seemed to have rubbed off over time. Do you happen to know what this could be? Thanks!
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Yes, Someone just posted a few weeks ago that the gold numbers are some sort of batch numbers used by Italian leather suppliers that allow them to keep track of the leather sold to their customers, including Coach. They're nothing to be concerned about.

Seeing the creed photo requires signing in to Etsy, and I don't recall if I'm a member.
 
#1,677
#1,679
Hyacinth said:
Yes, Someone just posted a few weeks ago that the gold numbers are some sort of batch numbers used by Italian leather suppliers that allow them to keep track of the leather sold to their customers, including Coach. They're nothing to be concerned about.

Seeing the creed photo requires signing in to Etsy, and I don't recall if I'm a member.
Click to expand...

Thank you again so much for all your help! :smile1: Don't worry about the creed photo on Etsy.
 
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