Do you know when Coach started using the bullseye stamp? I have a Coach Compartment 9845 made in the 80s that has this stamp, not on the creed but a couple inches away. I didn’t think they would have done that back in the 80s? Wondering now if this isn’t authentic or perhaps the dating isn’t correct.Abbreviations and Symbols on Items With a Creed Patch:
Coach has used many variations in their serial numbers and creeds over the years and you can find loads of information about them, and how to distinguish fakes from genuine bags, under the Authenticity Questions Thread at the below:
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/answers-to-authenticity-questions-94198.html
But here are some markings that Coach adds to the serial number or stamps on the creed patch to indicate specific types of bags, I have also attached some pictures below. Feel free to add additional abbreviations and photos!
Bullet (target or bullseye symbol) = Full price boutique bag sold at the outlet for a discount (FP Delete)
F after the serial number's hyphen = Made for Factory bag, sold only at the outlets or online factory sale
X = An MFF grade bag sold at a discount store like Marshalls
M = A boutique grade bag made exclusively for Macys
N = A boutique grade bag made exclusively for Nordstroms
FS (or 2 bullet stamps) = final sale (extra discount was given but Coach wont accept return or repair requests)
ES = employee sale, sold to a Coach employee at a discount (may also void returns/repairs?)
P = Pilot bag, a test product that may not have ever gone into production
Dont worry too much about the numbers/letter that appear in front of the hyphen, they indicate the month and year of manufacture and the plant code/country. Thats helpful information when you are trying to identify or authenticate a specific bag; but in the beginning it is helpful just remember that F after the hyphen means MFF bag and a bullet on the creed patch means FP delete sold at a discount at the outlet.
Below are photos of some of these markings.
Picture #1: Boutique Bag, this bag was probably sold at a boutique or department store, there is no bullet on the creed and there is no F after the hyphen. We call this an full price (FP) bag but you may have gotten it on sale at the department store or during a PCE event at the Coach boutique.
Picture #2: FP Delete (or transfer bag). This bag was probably sold at a discount at an outlet/factory store. There is no F after the hyphen and there is a bullet (bullseye) symbol on the creed patch to prevent someone from returning it for full price.
Picture #3: MFF bag (I borrowed this pic from ebay.) The F after the hyphen indicates that it was made for the outlet. The MSRP on the tag has been inflated and then immediately marked down. A similar grade bag that was sold at a discount store like Marshalls or Loehmanns may have an X instead of an F.
Picture #4: 2 Bullet Stamps (or sometimes they use an "FS" stamp) indicates that the bag was sold as is as a final sale with an extra discount, but Coach will not let you return it or accept it for repairs.
In the next message I will post info and pics about markings on items without creed patches.
Guide For Coach Product Grades and Markings
- Thread starter katev
- Start date
Do you know when Coach started using the bullseye stamp? I have a Coach Compartment 9845 made in the 80s that has this stamp, not on the creed but a couple inches away. I didn’t think they would have done that back in the 80s? Wondering now if this isn’t authentic or perhaps the dating isn’t correct.
I think that coach used the bullseye for quite a long time and I have seen some genuine vintage bags that are marked with the bullseye, but I don't know about the 1980s. Post pictures of your bag in the Authentication thread and one of the expert authenticators will tell you if it is genuine, see link below:
Authenticate This COACH - **see first post for format**
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...
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Since I'm the one who authenticated it here
Authenticate This COACH - **see first post for format**
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...
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I'll just say that "the 80s" covers a lot of territory, and maybe that's what the seller said. I didn't date the bag when I authenticated it since you already had an estimate but if I had I would have said "late 1980s". Since the closest I've ever been able to pin down the date the first outlet store was opened is around 1990, a bag made in the late 1980s - 1989 to be exact since that's the first year that style 9845 shows up in the catalogs - it's completely possible that it could have been in a store's inventory in 1989 and sent to the outlet store in 1990 or even later.
Please NEVER depend on a seller to know the exact date a pre-1994 Coach was made. It's rare to find someone who knows the name, remembering the date is a rare event. S/he got the decade correct, but just barely. Unfortunately several of the most widely used "guides" available on the internet are as much as 10 years off on Coach's serial number and dating system and how to estimate a date from details in the creed and serial number. Don't ever trust them. Use the six Salearea Guides posted in the Authenticate This Coach thread for accurate creed and serial number information, the link in Pinned near the top of every index listing in that thread.
SaleArea guides
Now that ebay is removing the guides they've been hosting for years, those who use those guides have been forced to either save them on their computers or print them. Tonight I found that the Salearea guides (including the Hyacinth/Salearea collaboration ones) have been saved to Salearea's...
forum.purseblog.com
Thanks again for authenticating the bag for me. I’m new to the forum and that bag is the first vintage I’ve added to my Coach collection. I’ll read through the SaleArea guides as well.Since I'm the one who authenticated it here
Authenticate This COACH - **see first post for format**
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...
I'll just say that "the 80s" covers a lot of territory, and maybe that's what the seller said. I didn't date the bag when I authenticated it since you already had an estimate but if I had I would have said "late 1980s". Since the closest I've ever been able to pin down the date the first outlet store was opened is around 1990, a bag made in the late 1980s - 1989 to be exact since that's the first year that style 9845 shows up in the catalogs - it's completely possible that it could have been in a store's inventory in 1989 and sent to the outlet store in 1990 or even later.
Please NEVER depend on a seller to know the exact date a pre-1994 Coach was made. It's rare to find someone who knows the name, remembering the date is a rare event. S/he got the decade correct, but just barely. Unfortunately several of the most widely used "guides" available on the internet are as much as 10 years off on Coach's serial number and dating system and how to estimate a date from details in the creed and serial number. Don't ever trust them. Use the six Salearea Guides posted in the Authenticate This Coach thread for accurate creed and serial number information, the link in Pinned near the top of every index listing in that thread.
SaleArea guides
Now that ebay is removing the guides they've been hosting for years, those who use those guides have been forced to either save them on their computers or print them. Tonight I found that the Salearea guides (including the Hyacinth/Salearea collaboration ones) have been saved to Salearea's...