AUTHENTICATE this COACH

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#2,686
Tetondeb said:
Hey Hyacinth... I'm having a dilemma over this now. I have 2 identical Olive Nubuc duffels...bought together....they are identical in every way except that one is made in Costa Rica and has the striped lining and one is made is Italy and has the solid lining and the creed says "distintive". The seams, zippers, measurements, feel, etc are completely identical. Is there a chance that there was an odd batch of Creeds from the Italian plant? I'm getting pics now.
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I have the same problem with that G code on a Made in Italy creed. I'm not saying that it's fake but I just can't say that I think it's genuine. The lining and G code for a country it shouldn't belong to are enough of a problem but the creed misspelling is impossible to excuse.

Then there are the strange fonts in the serial number, not just 2 different styles, but two different sizes just in the style half, and even the fonts in the prefix are strange - the C and G are unusually round, and the 5 has a shape I've never seen before. Unless Coach threw a bunch of leftover pieces from a bunch of other plants into a box, shipped it off to a temporary G plant and told them to "make a purse out of this", it's hard to see how all those things could have been put together. The serial number itself seems to have elements from 4 completely different stamps and fonts that just don't go together.

Below are just a few "comps".
"G" plant from October 1994, USA creed, outlet mark, different fonts in the serial number

An M5G- serial in a Soho, also with a USA creed - this and the one above are sandwiching the date of the creed in yours but they have the same fonts and yours is different.

If yours is genuine it would be because Coach did a bunch of things I have trouble imaging they would have done. It just doesn't make any sense. And I'm usually willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because they've done a lot of strange things in the past. But disguising or maybe falsifying a country of origin is stretching it and also illegal.

All of this is just my opinion, and you can decide for yourself if you think it's valid. I just can't say in good conscience that I think your bag is genuine - not without some proof that Coach was playing fast and loose with creeds during that time. The only scenario I can even imagine is that they had a defective Italy creed laying around that had been rejected because of the spelling mistake and they decided to use it to make a handful of Sonomas in plants that usually didn't make them, all this while they had the B, D, E, and M plants already producing Sonomas during 1995. But why make them without the striped lining?

Too many questions and no answers that make sense.
 

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#2,688
Hyacinth said:
I have the same problem with that G code on a Made in Italy creed. I'm not saying that it's fake but I just can't say that I think it's genuine. The lining and G code for a country it shouldn't belong to are enough of a problem but the creed misspelling is impossible to excuse.

Then there are the strange fonts in the serial number, not just 2 different styles, but two different sizes just in the style half, and even the fonts in the prefix are strange - the C and G are unusually round, and the 5 has a shape I've never seen before. Unless Coach threw a bunch of leftover pieces from a bunch of other plants into a box, shipped it off to a temporary G plant and told them to "make a purse out of this", it's hard to see how all those things could have been put together. The serial number itself seems to have elements from 4 completely different stamps and fonts that just don't go together.

Below are just a few "comps".
"G" plant from October 1994, USA creed, outlet mark, different fonts

An M5G- serial in a Soho, also with a USA creed - this and the one above are sandwiching the date of the creed in yours but they have the same fonts and yours is different.

If yours is genuine it would be because Coach did a bunch of things I have trouble imaging they would have done. It just doesn't make any sense. And I'm usually willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because they've done a lot of strange things in the past. But disguising or maybe falsifying a country of origin is stretching it and also illegal.

All of this is just my opinion, and you can decide for yourself if you think it's valid. I just can't say in good conscience that I think your bag is genuine - not without some proof that Coach was playing fast and loose with creeds during that time. The only scenario I can even imagine is that they had a defective Italy creed laying around that had been rejected because of the spelling mistake and they decided to use it to make a handful of Sonomas in plants that usually didn't make them, all this while they had the B, D, E, and M plants already producing Sonomas during 1995. But why make them without the striped lining?

Too many questions and no answers that make sense.
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I agree. .. lots of questionable issues. I just have these two identical bags with these 2 very different creeds. The leather even smells the same (I'm olfactory blessed) :D I guess I'll give one to Erins mom
 
#2,689
Tetondeb said:
I agree. .. lots of questionable issues. I just have these two identical bags with these 2 very different creeds. The leather even smells the same (I'm olfactory blessed) :D I guess I'll give one to Erins mom
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Or contact Jed Winokur and see if he wants to start an "Is It Or Isn't It?" section in the Archives. :D
 
#2,692
I have another "just curious" question, if that's okay:

Item: Blue *Coach* Legacy Janice Handbag Serial # G4P-9950
Listing number: 231013388259
Seller: justryn2live
Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Coach-...832&pid=100033&prg=1011&rk=4&sd=130918839446&

Comments:
I've always thought the "burnished" wording was awkward... but was it being used already in 1994? I don't recall seeing it on any other bags of this style, either (?).

Hyacinth has mentioned the division of words between lines, and this one has that issue, as well.

Also, was this color available in 1994?

Many thanks!
 
#2,693
Hi, I don't know if I am doing this right and I apologize if I am not. Could you please tell me if this bag is authentic? Thank you! # J4d-7584 Coach
 

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#2,695
Tenny said:
I have another "just curious" question, if that's okay:

Item: Blue *Coach* Legacy Janice Handbag Serial # G4P-9950
Listing number: 231013388259
Seller: justryn2live
Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Coach-...832&pid=100033&prg=1011&rk=4&sd=130918839446&

Comments:
I've always thought the "burnished" wording was awkward... but was it being used already in 1994? I don't recall seeing it on any other bags of this style, either (?).

Hyacinth has mentioned the division of words between lines, and this one has that issue, as well.

Also, was this color available in 1994?

Many thanks!
Click to expand...
This doesn't look like a 1994 bag. The wording on the creed, the color, and the nickel hardware which wasn't available until 1997, all are problems.
 
#2,696
Tenny said:
I have another "just curious" question, if that's okay:

Item: Blue *Coach* Legacy Janice Handbag Serial # G4P-9950
Listing number: 231013388259
Seller: justryn2live
Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-Coach-...832&pid=100033&prg=1011&rk=4&sd=130918839446&

Comments:
I've always thought the "burnished" wording was awkward... but was it being used already in 1994? I don't recall seeing it on any other bags of this style, either (?).

Hyacinth has mentioned the division of words between lines, and this one has that issue, as well.

Also, was this color available in 1994?

Many thanks!
Click to expand...

There are a LOT of questions about this one, but as long as you remember that Coach plants made mistakes, there's a logical explanation. Someone didn't read the memo - the one that said "Hey guys, hope everyone remembers that as of January 1, 2004, since we already used the "4" code for 1994, all year codes now have to say "04".

Or else Coach didn't have enough of the new serial number stamps to go around, and the plant manager was told to just stamp everything "4" until the new ones arrived. Maybe they never did, the Costa Rica plant was closed by the end of that year anyway so maybe they just had to make do with what they had on hand.

Coach DID start hyphenating words on creeds after the move to China because the creed wording had gotten so long that they didn't have any choice. It shouldn't be in earlier creeds though.

Here's another one, obviously a 2004 style and also with an outlet stamp (a lot of bags with creed mistakes went straight to the outlets) and also from the CR plant. Just another NAFJAM (Not A Fake, Just A Mistake).
and here too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-Auth-...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The third & fourth pics - another NAFJAM, with silver hardware

And more with silver hardware:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NWT-WOMENS-...093?pt=US_CSA_WH_Handbags&hash=item58a206554d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-Legac...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

So the Costa Rica plant was the exception to the rule - please don't report these bags. I wasn't sure about them when I first saw them but now I'm sure they're ok.
 

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#2,697
Hyacinth said:
There are a LOT of questions about this one, but as long as you remember that Coach plants made mistakes, there's a logical explanation. Someone didn't read the memo - the one that said "Hey guys, hope everyone remembers that as of January 1, 2004, since we already used the "4" code for 1994, all year codes now have to say "04".

Or else Coach didn't have enough of the new serial number stamps to go around, and the plant manager was told to just stamp everything "4" until the new ones arrived. Maybe they never did, the Costa Rica plant was closed by the end of that year anyway so maybe they just had to make do with what they had on hand.

Coach DID start hyphenating words on creeds after the move to China because the creed wording had gotten so long that they didn't have any choice. It shouldn't be in earlier creeds though.

Here's another one, obviously a 2004 style and also with an outlet stamp (a lot of bags with creed mistakes went straight to the outlets) and also from the CR plant. Just another NAFJAM (Not A Fake, Just A Mistake).
and here too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-Auth-...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The third & fourth pics - another NAFJAM, with silver hardware

And more with silver hardware:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NWT-WOMENS-...093?pt=US_CSA_WH_Handbags&hash=item58a206554d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coach-Legac...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

So the Costa Rica plant was the exception to the rule - please don't report these bags.
Click to expand...
Aha... Okay, all of that makes sense in an oddly Coach way...

I had already noticed lots of _4P anomalies on other styles, and this puts it into perspective.

Thanks bunches, both of you!

ADDED: whateve, I tried to multi-quote you in there, too - it didn't work... but I thank you, too!
 
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#2,698
SherriM said:
Hi, I don't know if I am doing this right and I apologize if I am not. Could you please tell me if this bag is authentic? Thank you! # J4d-7584 Coach
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That's an interesting one because it ties in to the ones we were just discussing. Is it a fake, or a mistake in stamping the year code?

I'm strongly leaning toward fake though, since this bag would have been made in September 2004 if it was just a stamping mistake. There's no way it could ever have been made in 1994 as the 4 in the serial number seems to show - and those J4D- prefixes turn out to be in fakes at least 25 percent of the time. That style only came out in 2002.

There's proof from other creed photos that Coach had already started using the correct "04" code and also switched that plant's production AND plant code to China by January 2004, see the photos below. There's no way the bag in your post could have been made in the US eight months later in the same "D" plant.

So it's fake, sorry. The stitching around the top especially as shown in the second-last photo is also pretty uneven.
 

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#2,699
:cool:
Hyacinth said:
It seems genuine but I'm concerned about the small photos and the condition of the bag. Just because something has been stored in the original box doesn't necessarity mean that it's in good condition, it depends how and where it was stored. Hot dry climate? Damp climate? Stored in a bedroom or in a basement? Any musty odors or cigarette smells?

Reading the seller's Feedback comments (and you have to actually read them, don't just look at the numbers) it seems like the seller has a good record so it might be worth taking a chance, but never hesitate to ask questions about the item's condition, especially any smells or odors. If the seller doesn't mention anything at all about the condition, technically they have an "out" if it turns out to be rough since they didn't claim anything to the contrary. If they describe the condition as excellent and the item actually isn't "as described" then a buyer might have a basis for a SNAD claim if the difference is severe enough.
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@hyacinth thank again you so much for the advice. I spoke to the seller about the condition and she said it is in very good condition. The owner is a lady who bought a lot of stuffs, but afterward got sick and passed away and couldn't use her bag. They found this bag together with a bunch of her new unworn shoes:( Feel bad about it, but seem like a rare find:)

Also. the seller who sells the fake purse is not on ebay but on PoshMark, I left a comment there and they won't be able to delete my comment, so hopefully people will be smart to read and do some searching before buying from her:)
 
#2,700
Hi Ladies,

What do you think of this listing on Ebay? The serial number is very unique(First 3 digit, always see only 4 digits or letter followed by number) "60C- 9327", can you please educate me on this? Thanks again so much for your help.

Item: COACH* CLASSIC Willis BLACK LEATHER handbag purse satchel *
Seller: golfergirlismyname
Link: http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/authenticate-this-coach-818914-180.html
 
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