Coach Metro Horse & Carriage Large Tote Bag Beige Crossgrain Leather Shopper

Coach started in 1941 as a family run workshop in a Manhattan loft, six leatherworkers making small leather goods by hand. The glove-tanned leather the name is known for came out of the fifties, worked from the hide used for baseball gloves, and handbags followed in the sixties. What comes through this shop runs from a 2002 Legacy Mini Market Tote, style 9846, to the Madison and the Penelope, and pebbled leather hobos like the Alexandra and the Elle.

How the sizes run

Bags carry no label size, so each listing describes the scale. The Legacy Mini Market Tote is the small one, structured, with a zip top and buckle handles that adjust. The Elle hobo has a short shoulder strap and a longer detachable one, and leather soft enough to slouch properly. The Madison is the big one, a drawstring bucket hobo with a side zip pocket, and the Ava II is a large tote with a zip, in midnight navy pebbled leather.

Ask before you order if you need exact dimensions.

What to check on a second-hand Coach

Start inside. The creed patch is a small leather square stitched into the lining, and on the bags we have had it carries a number that ends in the bag's style number: L20-9846 on the camel Legacy tote, F1892-F31399 on the dusty rose Elle. The tote's creed names the glove-tanned cowhide it was cut from. We photograph the patch on every bag, so you can read it yourself.

Then the hardware. On the ones we have handled, what goes first is the plating at the edge of a zip pull or a buckle, so look there for flaking. Run a thumb along the stitching at the handle roots and the base corners, where a leather bag wears first. And look at the lining, because on a pale bag the wear shows inside first; that is where our ivory Madison has it.

Some came without their dust bag, and the listing says so.

The Legacy tote, the Elle and the Madison sit with our other vintage pieces.

How do you check a vintage Coach bag? The creed patch and the number on it, the stitching, the weight of the hardware and the feel of the leather. We photograph all of them so you can check as well.

What condition are your vintage Coach bags in? Every mark is photographed and described in the listing.

How much does a Coach bag cost here? It depends on the model, the size and the condition, and each bag has its price on its own page. Bags that have sold stay on the site marked sold, so you can see which models have been through here.

Free UK delivery on orders of £40 or more, and 14 days to change your mind, then another 14 days to post it back at your own cost. It is all on shipping and returns.

For pairing a bag with something from the rails, Will it fit? checks the clothes against your measurements.

Labels and tags from Coach pieces that have passed through this table.