1941-1979
000-0000Era only. These serials carry no month, year or plant letter to decode.
Example 304-5912
Coach serial number formats
Coach changed the shape of its serial numbers several times. Knowing which shape you are holding is the whole game, because two of the four formats carry a date and two of them do not.
If you would rather not read the formats, thedecoderapplies all of them for you.
1980-1993
0000-000Era only. The digits are a production reference, not an encoded date.
Example 0259-416
1994-2006
A0A-0000Month letter, year, plant letter and a style number that maps to the catalogue.
Example K8P-9870
2006-2020
A00AA-00000Month letter, two-digit year, plant code and a five-digit style number.
Example B1980-38124
The month letter
On serials from 1994 onward, the first character is a letter standing for the month of manufacture. The sequence runs A through M and skips the letter I, because an I is too easily read as a 1 on a stamped patch.
- AJanuary
- BFebruary
- CMarch
- DApril
- EMay
- FJune
- GJuly
- HAugust
- JSeptember
- KOctober
- LNovember
- MDecember
That skipped I is a useful authenticity signal in its own right. A serial beginning with the letter I does not fit any documented Coach format.
Reading a worn patch
Old Creed patches lose definition. The two characters that cause the most trouble are the capital O against a zero and the capital I against a one. Tilt the bag under a lamp rather than guessing, because the stamped impression usually still holds the shape even when the ink has gone.
If the last line of the patch has rubbed away entirely, the serial is not recoverable. In that case the bag has to be identified from its shape, hardware and dimensions instead, which is what theidentification guidewalks through.