Vintage Handbag Authentication Guides: Coach, LV, Dooney & Bourke, Kate Spade

Vintage Bag Value covers the most-collected American and European handbag brands. Use the guides below to identify, date, and authenticate your bag — whether you’re buying, selling, or just curious about what’s sitting in the back of your closet.

Coach

The original focus of this site. Coach creed codes, authentication, eras, and value guides — everything you need to know about vintage Coach bags made between the 1960s and 2014.

Louis Vuitton

LV date codes have been stamped into every bag since ~1980. The two-letter factory prefix and four interleaved digits tell you where and when the bag was made — but a correct-looking code is not a guarantee of authenticity.

Dooney & Bourke

The original All Weather Leather bags from the 1980s are among the most-collected American vintage handbags. Genuine pieces carry a solid brass duck doubloon, a red-white-blue interior tag, and a “Made in U.S.A.” stamp.

Kate Spade

Original Kate Spade bags from 1993–2006 — especially the boxy sam shape — are now firmly in vintage territory. Authentic pieces always read kate spade new york in lowercase and have solid hardware with a proper spade logo.


More brands coming soon. If there’s a brand you’d like us to cover, use the contact page to let us know.