Real or fake Coach? Urgent

[zyanyatreasures]

I bought this bag from another site. I was told it was pre-serial numbers and leather.

It arrived and it doesn't feel like leather. The hardware is losing color.

The tag seems off.

[a*river*runs*through*it]

@albertabrightalberta 

[albertabrightalberta]

It's an authentic basic bag also called a zippered clutch. The style number is 9455. I believe the bag is from the late 80s. (@fashionclubgurl may know exactly when the bag was made.)

It's not "pre-serial." It did have a serial number that was glued on but they frequently fell off.

[fashionclubgurl]

---

@albertabrightalberta wrote:
It's an authentic basic bag also called a zippered clutch. The style number is 9455. I believe the bag is from the late 80s. (@fashionclubgurl may know exactly when the bag was made.)

It's not "pre-serial." It did have a serial number that was glued on but they frequently fell off.

---

Since the creed says that it was made in New York City and it has, or had, the glued-in serial number, its more likely to have been made between the late 1970s and early 1980s. Coach didnt put date codes in their purses until 1994 so dates before that are just educated quesses, helped along by information from vintage Coach collectors and restorers.

Older brass or brass-plated hardware DID sometimes discolor or the plating could wear off. Thats not unusual. It could develop a persistent green coating like tarnish called "verdigris" which usually needed careful removal with a brass cleaner but sometimes an owner would try to scrub or scrape the green gunk off and damage the finish. The glued-in serial numbers also tended to fall off with wear or washing.

The purse is genuine.

[zyanyatreasures]

Thank you all.

I just can't get past the fact that it doesn't feel like leather.  It has the "squeaky" feel that manmade bags feel like.

I have 15 other vintage bags and none of them feel like this one. All the rest are soft leather and respond well to leather conditioner.

[albertabrightalberta]

It could have been treated with something to give it that feel.

[zyanyatreasures]

Would it make a difference to you as a buyer to be told it was 50s or 60s and pre serial number and then find out it as some 20=30 years older?

Austin Shoe/bag repair shop told me the bag had been covered in mink oil and this has caused the horrible texture on the bag. 

[zyanyatreasures]

Meant newer...LOL

[vintagecoachcult]

First you have to understand the bag is nearly 50 years old. It has obviously not been treated with forgiving and texture saving treatments over the years and the leather has suffered. Some leathers then and now were more resilient and were either used less or stored in a environmentally 'leather friendly' condition, or used and abused and not treated correctly which would be essential to even imagine a bags overall leather condition as being soft/supple/etc. after 50 years.

[fashionclubgurl]

---

@zyanyatreasures wrote:

Would it make a difference to you as a buyer to be told it was 50s or 60s and pre serial number and then find out it as some 20=30 years older?

Austin Shoe/bag repair shop told me the bag had been covered in mink oil and this has caused the horrible texture on the bag. 

---

That doesnt surprise me, many oils actually seal the leather and dont allow it to "breathe". Its fine for things like hunting boots that you want to make as waterproof as possible, which is what my hubby uses it for, but you never want to use it on fine fashion leathers like handbags.

As for the date the seller gave you making a difference, its actually MORE surprising to me when a seller actually gets the date right. Too many sellers either guess, or base their dates on other similar listings, or worse yet on some of the horrible and grossly inaccurate "guides" they find on the internet.

The Ebay seller with the most accurate guide to dating a Coach by the creed and serial number details is "sacsmagnifiques1941" who published it on Ebay for years until Ebay removed all member-written guides in 2018. Fortunately its still saved on the Web Archives Wayback Machine, I suggest you save the link. She gives an approximate date estimate of the stamped creeds combined with the glued-in serial number as being used from the early to the late 1970s.

https://web.archive.org/web/20181220155004/https://www.ebay.com/gds/Guide-to-Vintage-Coach-Hang-tags...

I dont know what date the seller gave you but Ill accept sacsmagnifiques1941 dating recommendation every time. Your leather repair shop seems to be giving you very good information.

[fashionclubgurl]

Just a 'heads-up' about Coach purses that are claimed to have been made in the 1940s and 1950s, Coach didnt even start making purses until 1962. Their 1941 founding date on many of their logos refers to their early days when they were only making leather accessories like wallets. Purses came along in 1962 and would never have had a creed stamp of any kind until more than 15 years after that date.

The same kind of warning applies to so-called "Bonnie Cashin" or "Cashin-era" purses. Cashin only designed for Coach between 1962 and 1974, and genuine Cashin purses havent been found with Coach creed stamps or serial numbers.  Coach was also making true 'Coach' purses during that time that were not designed by Bonnie Cashin, so not every Coach made earlier than 1974 was a Cashin style. Cashin usually put her name or at least one of her special linings inside her designs, where Coachs own designs usually didnt have linings.

[carrilam0]

This is really interesting because I found this EXACT same bag at one of my thrift shops. Serial number is missing and the hardware is just like in your photo. I thought maybe it was copper or replaced. Also, the leather is coming off on the handle just like yours and there is metal underneath. I couldn't figure out what was going on with the bag. Leather is thick and all seems real but hardware is strange. Anyway - good luck with it!

[zyanyatreasures]

It's been frustrating. The hardware is interesting. The clasps have little anchors on them. Need to look that up. The bag is still sludgey feeling.  But I agree with the shoe repair guy...it's too much mink oil. Not sure how to remove it at this point.

[fashionclubgurl]

---

@zyanyatreasures wrote:

It's been frustrating. The hardware is interesting. The clasps have little anchors on them. Need to look that up. The bag is still sludgey feeling.  But I agree with the shoe repair guy...it's too much mink oil. Not sure how to remove it at this point.

---

The anchors on the hardware are correct for a Coach made in the 1970s

[albertabrightalberta]

---

@zyanyatreasures wrote:

It's been frustrating. The hardware is interesting. The clasps have little anchors on them. Need to look that up. The bag is still sludgey feeling.  But I agree with the shoe repair guy...it's too much mink oil. Not sure how to remove it at this point.

---

If you google, "coach rehab rescue," you'll find somewhere where there are some extremely talented rehabbers who are really good at cleaning and restoring bags. If there's a way to get the coating off, they'll know.