This year I began posting my Coach bags on Poshmark. The first few bags were agonizing to part with. Agonizing! Each has a memory: a special occasion, a fav outfit.. But I've since received really nice feedback from Poshers about my bags. It now makes me feel great to know my bags are going to fashionistas who appreciate them.
As I listed my Coach bags on Poshmark, along the way I received lots of questions about Coach bags. Far and away, the most recurring questions concerned authenticity. "How can I tell if [this] bag is authentic?"
For example, here's a question I recently received:
knicasio Since you have been collecting Coach bags for such a long time, perhaps you could offer some advice on knowing if a bag is authentic Coach or not and on what to look for. I mean no disrespect to you -- I am shopping for my very first Coach bag and notice that the prices vary greatly. Thank you for your help.
I have Coach purses in my collection from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, etc. I've purchased all of my bags directly from Coach stores. Over the years I've seen fake Coach bags, mostly in the windows of consignment and resale places. It really irks me when someone tries to pass a fake Coach bag off as authentic. But when I tried to write about how to authenticate a Coach bag in the past, the descriptions somehow felt hollow. So I've decided to take a different route entirely. This post is dedicated to giving you a few quick tips on how to tell if a bag is fake. But instead of explaining in words, I'm going to show you in pictures.
First, here's what an authentic Coach Slim Duffle looks like.
This bag, a Coach Slim Duffle, is 100% authentic. I purchased it when I was in my late 20s. It was my go-to fave bag. After buying this one, in the following year I purchased one in black and soon after got a few more in smaller sizes. I had to. It's the perfect shape! But a few years after I got this bag, laptops came into existence (yes, going pre-historic here). When I started to have to lug around a laptop, I eventually migrated to a smaller purse. My Slim Coach Duffles went into into their dust bags in my closet, like poor Puff the Magic Dragon.
Fast forward 30 years. This Coach Slim Duffle is perfect for carrying an iPad or tablet. My 20-something daughter raided my closet and declared several bags from this era as hers. Ah. The circle of life.
Below is a fake Coach bag. Yes, it's pink. And I'm going to show you a few key indicators of a fake.
Take a look at the bubble-gum pink bag above. Yes, it has the same shape and style as an auth bag. The strap looks similar, and at this distance and vantage point the stitching and hardware look fine. But.. it is all in the details.
There are many, many ways you can tell a bag is a fake. But for purposes of simplicity, I'm going to confine the post to the TOP 4 things that can help you spot a fake Coach bag. These are:
Let's take a closer look, and zoom in on the bottom of the bag.
Whoa. whoa. WHOA! Look at that stitching. In addition to being uneven, it also kinda goes side to side in parts. And the leather overlaps in a funky way. It's sloppy. For reasons I can't explain, every time I look at it I get cranky. There is over stitching on the right. And on the left side, some of the stitches are tiny and others are larger. It's just wrong.
In comparison, here's the auth bag (my bag, the one I purchased when I could run a mile in under 7 minutes and eat a hamburger and french fries every day for a week and not gain a pound).
Here's what the overlap on the bottom piping looks like on an auth bag. See how it is relatively smooth, with close matching on how the leather overlays on the piping? The finish is tight. The stitches are evenly spaced. No over-stitching. The stitch line is clean and straight.
There are more stitching details on the fake bag that give it away, but you get the idea. Stitching should be in a clean straight line, with evenly spaced stitch lengths. Overlapping on leather finishes will occur, but they should be neat (important: not perfect, but tidy).
Below is another example of uneven matching on the overlay on the piping on the fake pink bag. Again, you can expect some imperfections on Coach bags on the overlays, especially with bags from the 70s and 80s. But the mismatch shouldn't scream at you like the one below.
2. Zippers. Okay, there's a lot of misinformation about zippers floating around out there. Some say to just look for YKK. Others point out discolorations on the zipper. And some look to see the zipper hardware is the same tone (silver tone, gold tone) as purse hardware.
But there is no zipper that guarantees authenticity. I have owned over 200 Coach bags. (Yes, I know. My Coach collection is excessive. I'm working on downsizing. But it is hard. I have my brown slim Coach duffle listed on Poshmark, but simply taking it out for these pictures made my mind go goey as I handled it -- "my precious, my precious.")
Getting back on track. Zippers. Coach has changed its zippers plenty over the years. But there are certain indicators on a zipper that can tell you if a bag is NOT a Coach. That is, if a bag has a certain kind of zipper that in itself does not indicate authenticity. But certain kind of zippers certainly can indicate that a bag is NOT authentic.
All Coach zippers have a zip stop of some kind at the start of the zipper. Let me say that again: all zippers used in Coach bags have some sort of zip stop at the zipper start. On the interior zipper of this pink bag, there is no zipper stop. Look.
In comparison, look at the the auth bag. There is a piece of hardware at the start of the zipper in the auth bag below. There are some auth Coach bags on which the zipper start does not have hardware. But for those bags, you will see stitching that compensates for that lack of hardware. I'll include an example of another bag below.
3. Next up: rivets. Now, this may not seem like it's important. But rivets are a great way to easily tell if a bag is not authentic. Coach takes meticulous care in making sure that its rivets are installed using precise measurements to ensure centering and alignment. Look at the rivet below on the pink bag. It is off center, and out of center alignment to the zipper.
Contrast that with the auth Coach bag here. See how the rivet is meticulously centered?
4. And now for the thing that puts me over the edge. Coach creeds. Coach creeds make me nuts because there is so much misinformation out there. I could reference a whole bunch of websites loaded with information about Coach serial numbers. But a simple rule of thumb is this: take the digits on the right of the dash on the Coach creed number and look it up on the web. Typically, the last digits indicate the model number of the bag.
For example, if I input the "Coach 9060" into a web search engine, the return would yield lots of bags that look like my brown Coach Slim Duffle. There might be a variety of colors (tan, black, brown, red, etc.). But the model would essentially be the same.
But look at the creed stamped on the fake pink Coach. The last 4 digits are "2354." When I input "Coach 2354" into a web search engine, I got a search return on a lone Coach wallet and a Coach shoulder bag completely unlike the pink bag. And, because I am already very familiar with this particular Coach model, I already know it should have a Creed No of 9060.
For reference, I like this guide about Coach serial numbers and creed patches. The author, Ms. Melissa Barnes, provides fantastic pictures here, along with a terrific write up comparing Coach patches and creeds over time. Towards the end of her post, she supplies a list of vintage Coach style numbers and bag names. It's a bit towards the bottom of the page, so for handy reference I've included it below. Please note that the author is Ms. Barnes, and you can find her blog here.
Here's a terrific example of how to decipher the serial number (and hence year) of vintage coach bags.
Okay, now that we've covered some ways to tell of a Coach bag is authentic and we've gone over basics about Coach serial numbers (a.k.a. Coach creeds), let's switch gears. The above list is the perfect segue into vintage Coach bags and styles.
I accidentally became a collector of vintage Coach bags. I started buying Coach bags in the 1970s, and simply aged with my bags. Yes, I'm now a classic.
If you are new to vintage Coach bags, there are a few places to get acquainted. Susan Cernec took a tour of the Coach archives, and she wrote this article about it in Glamour some years back. In her article she features this photo of the Coach Ergo bag. I have one of these bags in my Posh closet, in black (of course). Just look at those colors! Ohhhhh... so pretty.
If you are interested in the history of Coach as a company as it evolved over time, here's a nice summary published by Katie Davies.
Coach has a rich history that dates back to 1941. They were founded under the name Manhattan Leather Bags by Lillian and Miles Cahn. The company founder became impressed by the design of a baseball glove and it inspired him to create a handbag with similar attributes. Working with six artists, he created a collection consisting of 12 handbags. Like a baseball glove, these bags were made from tan, supple, high quality leather and featured excellent stitch work and craftsmanship.
The origins of Coach bags started with a love of leather and craftsmanship. A short article about this called Tracing the Evolution of the Coach Bag From the ’60s to Today was published in Vogue in 2016, the 75th anniversary of Coach. Here's an excerpt:
Here’s a strange but true fact for you: America’s favorite pastime inspired some of its most beloved handbags made by Coach. The brand, which is celebrating 75 years in business, was founded by a group of leather-obsessed artisans in 1941. Seventeen years later, the company introduced its signature glove-tanned cowhide, inspired by a baseball mitt, a durable yet flexible material that helped usher in a new type of bag for a new type of woman, one for whom structured and “fussy” bags held no appeal.
- Stitching
- Zippers
- Rivets
- Coach creed
Let's take a closer look, and zoom in on the bottom of the bag.
Whoa. whoa. WHOA! Look at that stitching. In addition to being uneven, it also kinda goes side to side in parts. And the leather overlaps in a funky way. It's sloppy. For reasons I can't explain, every time I look at it I get cranky. There is over stitching on the right. And on the left side, some of the stitches are tiny and others are larger. It's just wrong.
In comparison, here's the auth bag (my bag, the one I purchased when I could run a mile in under 7 minutes and eat a hamburger and french fries every day for a week and not gain a pound).
Here's what the overlap on the bottom piping looks like on an auth bag. See how it is relatively smooth, with close matching on how the leather overlays on the piping? The finish is tight. The stitches are evenly spaced. No over-stitching. The stitch line is clean and straight.
There are more stitching details on the fake bag that give it away, but you get the idea. Stitching should be in a clean straight line, with evenly spaced stitch lengths. Overlapping on leather finishes will occur, but they should be neat (important: not perfect, but tidy).
Below is another example of uneven matching on the overlay on the piping on the fake pink bag. Again, you can expect some imperfections on Coach bags on the overlays, especially with bags from the 70s and 80s. But the mismatch shouldn't scream at you like the one below.
2. Zippers. Okay, there's a lot of misinformation about zippers floating around out there. Some say to just look for YKK. Others point out discolorations on the zipper. And some look to see the zipper hardware is the same tone (silver tone, gold tone) as purse hardware.
But there is no zipper that guarantees authenticity. I have owned over 200 Coach bags. (Yes, I know. My Coach collection is excessive. I'm working on downsizing. But it is hard. I have my brown slim Coach duffle listed on Poshmark, but simply taking it out for these pictures made my mind go goey as I handled it -- "my precious, my precious.")
Getting back on track. Zippers. Coach has changed its zippers plenty over the years. But there are certain indicators on a zipper that can tell you if a bag is NOT a Coach. That is, if a bag has a certain kind of zipper that in itself does not indicate authenticity. But certain kind of zippers certainly can indicate that a bag is NOT authentic.
All Coach zippers have a zip stop of some kind at the start of the zipper. Let me say that again: all zippers used in Coach bags have some sort of zip stop at the zipper start. On the interior zipper of this pink bag, there is no zipper stop. Look.
In comparison, look at the the auth bag. There is a piece of hardware at the start of the zipper in the auth bag below. There are some auth Coach bags on which the zipper start does not have hardware. But for those bags, you will see stitching that compensates for that lack of hardware. I'll include an example of another bag below.
3. Next up: rivets. Now, this may not seem like it's important. But rivets are a great way to easily tell if a bag is not authentic. Coach takes meticulous care in making sure that its rivets are installed using precise measurements to ensure centering and alignment. Look at the rivet below on the pink bag. It is off center, and out of center alignment to the zipper.
Contrast that with the auth Coach bag here. See how the rivet is meticulously centered?
4. And now for the thing that puts me over the edge. Coach creeds. Coach creeds make me nuts because there is so much misinformation out there. I could reference a whole bunch of websites loaded with information about Coach serial numbers. But a simple rule of thumb is this: take the digits on the right of the dash on the Coach creed number and look it up on the web. Typically, the last digits indicate the model number of the bag.
For example, if I input the "Coach 9060" into a web search engine, the return would yield lots of bags that look like my brown Coach Slim Duffle. There might be a variety of colors (tan, black, brown, red, etc.). But the model would essentially be the same.
But look at the creed stamped on the fake pink Coach. The last 4 digits are "2354." When I input "Coach 2354" into a web search engine, I got a search return on a lone Coach wallet and a Coach shoulder bag completely unlike the pink bag. And, because I am already very familiar with this particular Coach model, I already know it should have a Creed No of 9060.
For reference, I like this guide about Coach serial numbers and creed patches. The author, Ms. Melissa Barnes, provides fantastic pictures here, along with a terrific write up comparing Coach patches and creeds over time. Towards the end of her post, she supplies a list of vintage Coach style numbers and bag names. It's a bit towards the bottom of the page, so for handy reference I've included it below. Please note that the author is Ms. Barnes, and you can find her blog here.
Style numbers and names:
4068 Lunch Tote
4107 Soho Basket Bag
4108 flap bucket bag (not sure if that is correct name)
4115 Whitney Bag
4133 Waverley Bag
4134 Back Sack
4140 Lafayette Bag
4143 Worth Bag
4150 Fletcher Bag
4151 Thompson Drawstring
4152 Bantam Bag
4153 Bleeker Bag
4155 Soho Zip Tote
4156 Belted Pouch
4157 Buckle Bag
4158 Handle Bag
4162 Soho Cornelia Sling Backpack
4180 Lexington Drawstring
4404 Madison Chapin
4409 Madison Arcadia Tote
4906 - two very different bags with this number... one a pebbled bucket, one a glove leather wristlet
4913 Sonoma Pouch
4921 Sonoma Satchel
5130 Station Bag
5136
5290 Baxter Bag
6094 Demi Pouch
6707 Bri Satchel
6712 Slim Shoulder Bag
7453
7736 Canvas Demi
7784 Demi Buckle Flap
9014 Berkeley Legacy - Bonnie Cashin era bag traditionally, but found creed number on e-bay indicating manufacture date of 1996
9017 Abbie Demi
9019 Maggie Bucket or Duffle
9020
9023 Winnie Flap Messenger - Mini Willis
9027 Ergo Mini Satchel Hobo
9032 Laurie Flap
9038 Shelburne Flap
9043 Geometric Bag - original price $174
9044
9045 Geometric Roll Bag
9046 Flap bag with round clasp
9047 Legacy
9059 Legacy Zip Top Hobo
9061 Rambler's Legacy
9062 Mambo Hobo
9073 Andrea Slim Tote
9076 Legacy Flap - Companion Bag
9098 Tribeca
9107 Sutton
9136 Legacy Pocket Hobo
9142 Hipster Flap
9164 Legacy Shoulder Bag
9211 Mini Hobo
9214 Small Hobo
9303 Bleeker Satchel
9305 Bleeker Tote
9311 Bleeker Demi
9430 Slim Satchel Large
9434 Buckle Bag - not correct name...
9455 Basic Bag
9525 Stewardess Bag
9635 Convertible Clutch
9712 Penelope Demi Turnlock
9735 Large Rambler Bag
9755 Pocket Purse
9765 Madison Satchel
9790 City Bag
9826 Mini Belt Bag
9844 Mini Demi Hobo
9853 Binocular Bag
9870 Court Bag
9892 Chrystie Bag
9893 Scooter Bag
9919 Quincy Flap
9924 Casino Bag
9925 Carnival Bag
9927 Willis Bag
9929 Small Satchel
9930 Murphy Bag - looks like Willis but no handle - original price $198.00
9942 Carousel Clutch
9943 Classic Backpack
9950 Janice's Legacy
9951 Patricia's Legacy
9952 Lula's Legacy
9953 Helen's Legacy
9954 Prairie Bag
9960 Daypack
9965 Legacy Trail Saddle Bag
9966 Legacy Zip
9973 Kit Bag
9974 Multi Zip
9976 Anderson Zip
9977 Manor Bag
9978 Small Side Pack
9980 Taft Bag
9981 Watson Bag
9983 Regina Bag
9984 Bixbi Sling
9988 Crescent - usually considered a Bonnie Cashin era bag, but I found some on E-Bay with creed numbers indicating manufacture dates after 1994, three so far, so it is not an isolated thing
9991 Lunch Box Zip
9993 Mini Shopper
9994 Drawstring Backpack
9995 Zip Top Shopper
9997 Legacy Hobo
16533 Penelope original price $248
17994 Classic Leather Shoulder Purse
17995 Madison Satchel
17998 Leather Duffle
18000 Field Bag
Here's a terrific example of how to decipher the serial number (and hence year) of vintage coach bags.
Okay, now that we've covered some ways to tell of a Coach bag is authentic and we've gone over basics about Coach serial numbers (a.k.a. Coach creeds), let's switch gears. The above list is the perfect segue into vintage Coach bags and styles.
I accidentally became a collector of vintage Coach bags. I started buying Coach bags in the 1970s, and simply aged with my bags. Yes, I'm now a classic.
If you are new to vintage Coach bags, there are a few places to get acquainted. Susan Cernec took a tour of the Coach archives, and she wrote this article about it in Glamour some years back. In her article she features this photo of the Coach Ergo bag. I have one of these bags in my Posh closet, in black (of course). Just look at those colors! Ohhhhh... so pretty.
If you are interested in the history of Coach as a company as it evolved over time, here's a nice summary published by Katie Davies.
Coach has a rich history that dates back to 1941. They were founded under the name Manhattan Leather Bags by Lillian and Miles Cahn. The company founder became impressed by the design of a baseball glove and it inspired him to create a handbag with similar attributes. Working with six artists, he created a collection consisting of 12 handbags. Like a baseball glove, these bags were made from tan, supple, high quality leather and featured excellent stitch work and craftsmanship.
The origins of Coach bags started with a love of leather and craftsmanship. A short article about this called Tracing the Evolution of the Coach Bag From the ’60s to Today was published in Vogue in 2016, the 75th anniversary of Coach. Here's an excerpt:
Here’s a strange but true fact for you: America’s favorite pastime inspired some of its most beloved handbags made by Coach. The brand, which is celebrating 75 years in business, was founded by a group of leather-obsessed artisans in 1941. Seventeen years later, the company introduced its signature glove-tanned cowhide, inspired by a baseball mitt, a durable yet flexible material that helped usher in a new type of bag for a new type of woman, one for whom structured and “fussy” bags held no appeal.
I'm going to close out this article with a reference to the most expensive bags by Coach. Why not? It's fun to look at these beauties. Psst: the most expensive bag rings in at $20,000.
Want to reach me? My email address is poshkya@gmail.com. Also, here are links to other places you can find me.
Want to reach me? My email address is poshkya@gmail.com. Also, here are links to other places you can find me.