Older bags
Before 1994
The documented seven-digit formats do not encode a date. Read the pre-1994 comparison path before trying to assign a year.
Coach reference index
Start with the evidence you have.
Choose the task that matches what is still legible on the bag. Each route keeps the decoder, serial formats and catalogue evidence separate.
Choose a route
Four ways into the reference
Pick one starting point; the pages cross-link when the next piece of evidence matters.
01
Open the decoderDecode a Creed
Enter the stamped serial and compare it with the documented decoder formats.
02
Read the format guideUnderstand a serial format
Check character length, dash position and what each documented era can resolve.
03
Search the style indexLook up a style number
For a 1994-onward letter-led serial, search its 3-, 4- or 5-digit style suffix against catalogue records.
04
Follow the identification methodIdentify a bag without a readable serial
Work from measurements, construction, hardware and catalogue evidence instead.
Method and limits
A consistency check
These tools compare a bag with documented formats and catalogue records. They do not authenticate, appraise or value it, and unresolved conflicts stay unresolved.
On iPhone
Take the index with you
Use camera-based Creed reading, catalogue search and whole-bag comparison in the app.
