The Coach patch, creed and serial number is the #1 talking point when discussing the authenticity of a Coach bag. Nobody wants to buy a counterfeit bag. Everyone wants to know for sure if their bag is authentic, especially when buying from an online auction like eBay. But is this mysterious serial number a true indicator? In a word, NO.
First, a true serial number is unique. Finding a Coach patch with a truly unique serial number is next to impossible. Coach hasn’t used a real serial number for about 10 years. Sure, older bags had actual serial numbers, but not anymore. Myths, urban legends, or just plain untruths surrounding “the patch” have caused many girls to go into a kind of panicked frenzy after receiving a bag that had a patch with no numbers on it, or worse, no patch at all!
The fact is that not all bags have them. Actually, most don’t! No one knows for sure what determines Coach’s decision to put a leather number patch on certain bags, but a general rule of thumb is this: If Coach considers the bag to be a bag, it will have a leather number patch. Items that don’t count as handbags include wristbands, mini skinny bags, cosmetic bags, and other accessories. Sometimes there will be leather creed patches, but no numbers on these smaller accessory-type products. The numbers, when present, represent the style number and a manufacturing date code. So you will see the same style number on every bag of that style, but you may find some bags with numbers that are different than the style numbers. Numbers can also contain letters.
There are more than a few different creeds, but the most common ones will say something like this:
THIS IS A COACH BAG. IT WAS HANDMADE IN CHINA FROM THE FINEST MATERIALS WITH GENUINE LEATHER. ITS SUPERIOR CRAFTSMANSHIP AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL REFLECT OUR COMMITMENT TO ENDURING QUALITY.
THIS IS A COACH BAG. IT WAS HANDMADE IN CHINA FROM ALL-NATURAL SOFT MILLING COW LEATHER. VARIATIONS IN THE GRAIN ARE CHARACTERISTICS OF FULL GRAIN NATURAL LEATHER.
Most of the leather patches are beautifully engraved. Some of the newer bags have a metallic cursive style writing instead of an embossing. Some of the accessory-type bags, as mentioned above, won’t have any numbers, but may still have a creed of sorts, usually a shorter version of the examples above.
Another misconception is that Coach bags are made in the US and anything made in China must be fake. This is not true and it is hard to believe that so many people believe it. Coach has not made bags in the US for about 10 years and 90% or more of its products are made in China. There are also other countries such as Turkey, Italy, Pakistan, Mexico and India, among others. You will almost always see the word China on your creed patches.
The bottom line is that just because a Coach bag doesn’t have a leather credo doesn’t mean it’s a knockoff. Most companies that make fake bags would put one out anyway. They may not be the correct style numbers. It may not be leather. You may have misspelled words. Still, he’ll probably be there with a fake bag. So don’t get too excited about a “no patch” bag. Instead, learn your bag’s style number, and if it has a patch, make sure it matches the creed numbers. Check for spelling errors. Make sure the patch is actually leather. In short, whether it’s a small bag, a cosmetic bag, a wristband, or another accessory, you probably shouldn’t have one anyway. Of course, there are exceptions to this accessory rule, but it’s correct most of the time. Some of the more expensive accessories will have the full creed, such as limited edition items.