Coach bags are iconic for a reason; this classic brand, first launched in New York City in 1941,c reates high-quality, hand-crafted leather goods that never go out of style. But their high demand means there are a lot of imitators out there; Coach bags and wallets are often copied illegally, with knockoffs available online, on street corners, out of sketchy car trunks! The only way to know your Coach bag is a true original is with the bag’s serial number. Open the handbag and find the serial number tag. This is a leather patch with the Coach logo and motto, typically sewn in directly under the interior pocket zipper. The serial number is at the bottom of the tag and contains a minimum of 4 letters and 4 numbers. Call Coach customer service at 1 (904) 741-3090 and give the representative your serial number. All authentic Coach bags are registered with the company in their database and the rep will be able to verify the bag’s authenticity. You can also visit a Coach retail location. The manager or sales associate will be able to do a database search to let you know if your bag's for real.

Tips

Shop carefully when searching for an authentic Coach bag. Coach stores, Coach factory outlets, Coach.com, and the Coach catalog, as well as trusted outlet stores are the only official retailers for Coach merchandise. Avoid independent retailers, both online and in person, along with wholesale shops as Coach doesn't have retail agreements with these businesses.

Any Coach item that has only 5 or fewer digits in the serial number, and / or is missing the “No” in front of the number, is almost 100 percent certain of being fake. If the creed also says “Made in Korea” the “fake” percentage goes up to 100 percent.

KNOWN AND COMMON FAKE COACH SERIAL NUMBERS

Hello Hidayatul and Peggy. Due to the sophistication of counterfeit “artists” and the obvious rise of fake goods, it has made things extremely difficult for several luxury brands, including Coach. Hello, Can somone please help with this issue. I have what appears to be a vintage Coach bag. The leather feels very nice - thick and supple.

By Carrie Ribeiro-Centeno on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 2:02 AM

KNOWN AND COMMON FAKE COACH SERIAL NUMBERS

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To help wade through the counterfeit Coaches for sale, here's a basic guide to some of the most commonly-used fake serial numbers. Many of these show up on older classic leather bags but have been found on new Signature bags and leather bags too. And more will show up every month, so don't think that if a number isn't listed here it must be ok.

Of course there's more to deciding whether or not a Coach bag or other accessory is counterfeit than just the serial number. You also have to look at the construction details like zipper pulls, hardware, stitching, the design and thickness of the straps, the design and font used on the creed stamp or creed patch inside the bag, and especially whether the style number (the numbers to the right of the dash) on the creed actually belongs to that style bag.(Before 1994, most serial numbers were seven numbers long and didn't give any clue to the style name of the bag. After 1994 the last half of the number was actually the style number, and the front half of the number showed where and when the item was made.Coaches made in 1994 or later should begin with a letter from A to M)

Read the creed carefully and look for mistakes in spacing, spelling and punctuation (these don't always prove something is fake but they will 99 times out of 100).

Beware of 'classic' leather bags with sewn-on cell phone holders on the side, another sure sign of a counterfeit.

Beware of any bag whose construction doesn't match the description on the creed patch. For instance, if a creed says that a bag is made of genuine leather and doesn't mention any other type of material but the bag is mostly fabric with leather trim, you're looking at a fake.

And beware of any older bag where the name Coach is stamped on the outside or the flap, especially if it isn't in the lower center of the flap. There are exceptions, but ask someone at the Ebay Purses Board to look at the auction to see if your bag is one of them.

Also beware of badly-researched or Copied-and-Pasted 'Guides' posted here and at other places on the Net that quote 'Rules' and claim that a certain feature like YKK zippers prove a Coach is real (or fake). Coach has used at least FIVE different brands of zippers and fakes makers can buy real OR fake YKKs so a zipper doesn't prove a thing). Almost all of them are filled with mistakes, outdated info or just plain nonsense. There is NO single detail that can ever prove a Coach is genuine. And those free downloadable 'guides' you sometimes find are worth exactly what you paid for them - zip, zero, zilch. The ones you have to pay for aren't any better, and the links you sometimes find in them to 'sites where you can buy genuine Coach bags' often lead to sites selling fakes. Don't waste a dime or your time on them.

Any question about authenticity should always be asked at Ebay's Shoes Purses and Accessories forum:http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum/Shoes-Purses-And/1000000009

Please remember, this list is an introduction, NOT a complete list. There are thousands of fakes that won't have any of those numbers, and many fakes, especially newer ones, can have accurate serial numbers. Also remember that no one can say if a bag is genuine just from the serial number! Clear close-up photos of the inside and outside are always needed. A correct serial or style number will never prove that a Coach is genuine, but an INCORRECT number will almost always prove that a bag is fake.

To clarify - the SERIAL number is the entire number shown underneath the stamped creed. All FULL-SIZE bags will have serial numbers, smaller bags might not. STYLE numbers are the 2nd half of the serial on items made after 1994 and are Coach's ID number for that style. Serial numbers containing ALL NUMBERS were made before 1994 and before Coach added the style number to the serial number and can't be used to find the style.

NT-4903 and Other Frequently-used Fake Coach Serial NumbersCOACHES WITH THESE NUMBERS ARE ALWAYS COUNTERFEIT:

NT-4903NT-4908NT-4115NT-4157NT-9992DK-8674TF-6823TN-4136TN-4186TN-9085TN-9096TN-9850TN-9927TN-99514C-86244C-991140-86247H-7456KE-6042JH-9080

ANY Coach bag with only two letters or one number and one letter to the left of the hyphen is fake.

501-20 + all similar numbers starting with 101-, 202-, 501-, 701-, or any other group of 3 numbers with a zero in the middle, followed by 2 or 3 numbers after the dash and usually with a patch that says 'made in Korea' - always counterfeit, no matter how real the leather feels.Coach NEVER made bags in Korea and never used serial numbers with only 5 or 6 digits like this:'xxx-xx' or 'xxx-xxx' and without the abbreviated 'No.' in front of the numbers. Except for a few items with 6-digit serial numbers made and marked for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Coach never used serial numbers with 6 digits or less.

Coach never made 'classic' leather bags with matching sewn-on cell phone holders.

These numbers on PURSES are always fake, these numbers belong only to Travel or Business items (purses with style numbers beginning with 98xx or 99xx are usually genuine).

Mchanga kodi install. H4B-0516

H4B-0678

H4B-0517

H4B-0520

H4B-0532

HRB-0516

(The H4B-05xx sequence belonged to travel and business bags and briefcases, not handbags)

Krishna arjun serial. 012-3445

A5B-3906 - fake Sonoma Double Zip Bags

A8M-4896 - ALWAYS fake and probably wouldn't have been used in a purse

L4C-9941 or LAC-9941

N4H-9920 - always fake, one of the codes is invalid

UOJ-7785 and U0J-7785 - always fake. invalid prefix, found on many Signature bags. The -7785 style number belongs to an all-leather Demi which is also being frequently faked just like the similar Signature Demi style 6094. Both styles need to be looked at carefully.

Any serial number starting with UOJ- or U0J- or any other U0* or UO*- prefix is ALWAYS fake. No exceptions.

M4S-7414 is showing up on quite a few fakes. The entire number is invalid and that style code would never be on a bag with that prefix - ALWAYS fake.

H6S-9135 - always fake, same reasons as M4S-7414

0444-317, 0444-316 AND 0444-315 and possibly others beginning with 0444 - some 'classic' fakes are showing up with these numbers and have a number of mistakes in the creed stamps and on the bags themselves. Assume they're all fake.Any 'classic' leather bags with the # 0444-31(X) and heavy horizontal lines both above and below the numbers is fake.0212-578

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