Guide to dates of vintage Coach bags

There is a lot of misinformation out there, so I am going to work on a guide to help answer some questions about vintage Coach products. A lot of information gets lost with time, and even Coach couldn't answer some of the questions I had when I began my collection.

At the bottom of the page is a list of style numbers and names of most of the bags that have such a thing, of course style numbers were not assigned until 1994. The style number is the last four or five numbers after the dash in any Coach serial number made 1994 or later. Actually, that is incorrect, thank you very much BeenBurned from The Purse Forum for the following:

Prior to 1994, style numbers were assigned to bags but they weren't used as part of the serial number on creeds until 1994, but instead, random serial numbers were used. 

I am going to go from newest to oldest, and showing as much information as I can. I am then going to ask some experts from the Purse Forums to correct any mistakes I might have made. Hopefully this guide will be helpful and useful.

This bag is from summer 2011, and was actually made in February 2011. It says "Handcrafted in China", which is where most Coach bags are made today. The serial number can be decoded on any Coach bag made from 1994 on. The first letter is the month, in order from A for January, all the way through M for December, skipping I for clarity because I was too easy to mistake for 1. The second number is the year the bag was made, 4 for 1994, 3 for 2003, and 04 for 2004, with double numbers being used for every year after 2004. The third or fourth number in the creed is the factory designation number. I don't think Coach has ever released a list of these numbers and what they stand for to the public. 

This bag is from fall 2011, and also was made in February 2011, and it also states "Handcrafted in China".

This bag is from the outlet store, and also says "Handcrafted in China", it is from fall 2010. It was actually made in March, 2010. This bag also states "Handcrafted in China".

This bag was made in October of 2003. It was handcrafted in the United States. 

This bag was made in October of 2000. It was made in the United States, in one of several factories operating at the time. 

This bag was made in February of 1998. It was also made in the United States.

This bag was made in March of 1997. Also made in the United States.

This bag was made in June of 1996. It was made in a factory in Turkey. 

This bag was made in the United States, but it was made prior to the implementation of the orderly and meaningful creed serial number system that was created by Coach in 1994. Notice that it says "Made in the United States", but it says it under the creed instead of up in the middle of the creed like all the others. There is a number under the creed, but the number is individual for each bag made by Coach during this time, and cannot be deciphered. This bag was created in a factory in the United States, after Coach had expanded outside of New York City to meet a growing demand for the bags that simply could not be accommodated by the factory in New York. 

Notice that underneath the word Coach, it says "LEATHERWARE" in tiny block letters. The tag from this bag will also say "LEATHERWARE" underneath. This bag dates anytime prior to 1994, and after the implementation of the creed stamp in the 1970's.

These bags are referred to as "New York City" bags, they were made in the original Coach factory in New York City. That factory operated from the late 1960s through the mid 1980's. Notice the "LEATHERWARE" in tiny block letters underneath the word Coach at the top of the creed.

This bag with the leather stamp inside but no creed is actually the same style of bag as the black bag above from New York City. This bag was made prior to the time when Coach adopted a creed, and prior to the time when they had serial numbers inside the bags, yet after the Coach metal tag from below, placing it late 1960's, early 1970's. 

This bag with the metal tag is from the 1960's, it was made before Coach had a creed, and is considered to be one of the earliest bags made by the Coach company. 

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

Coach Devon bag, made in the United States

This bag was not even going on the blog because I hated it on site. It was faded, ugly, floppy, had some seriously worn out areas and was full of pen marks. I dutifully bathed her anyway, and used acrylic paint to cover some of her worn areas (rubbed into the worn areas of the bag while the bag was still wet, a new technique for me), and realized last night that I just love the shape. She is unusual because the sides are sewn so that the leather from the side pokes towards the front to achieve a barrel shape. With the floppiness of age the leather no longer was holding that shape and the pieces of leather from the side had made worn spots on the front of the bag where they were poking forward. After the bath when the leather stiffened it made the bag a beautiful shape that I really really like!! And I tried everything to get a photo of the creed, but it was not cooperating with me!! This is a Coach Leatherware bag with the Made in the United States underneath the creed.

Fake vintage Coach leather bag

I got a pretty good quality fake vintage Coach today from e-bay. I thought I would document what it looks like for reference purposes. It is a good fake like I said, so it could probably fool most people. I will most likely destroy this bag so no one else gets fooled by it.

Coach replacement tags....

You can order free tags from Coach to replace ones that are missing or lost from a Coach bag. I got a few of them today, so here are some pics of what they look like:

Bonnie Cashin era Coach Saddle Bag

This bag was in really good shape for her age. The leather is actually colored using some kind of coating that I had never seen on a Coach bag before. I gave her a full bath because the leather was a bit loose and worn from age, here are pics of her still drying.

Dry rot

Ok, this briefcase was deteriorating before my eyes and crumbling in places under my touch. Sad because she is a New York City bag and worth saving if at all possible. I used a combination of super glue, epoxy, and black acrylic paint to preserve what is left. Here are the photos:

And here is what she looked like before I got her, what doesn't show is how the handles were wobbly, there was blue paint on the side of the bag, it is visible in the photos, and the dry rot was just not something you can see in pictures. http://www.etsy.com/transaction/77139860 she was a reasonable price even with the problems!