Kissing-lock Coin Purse

Era

cashin-through-classic-nycE2-E3

Designer

bonnie-cashin

Closure

kiss-lock

Confidence

tentative

Status

published

Lead

The kissing-lock coin purse is one of Bonnie Cashin’s signature small-leather-goods forms at Coach [vintagecoachie, yourgreatfinds-collectors-guide]. The form persisted in production after Cashin’s 1974 contract end; production-era cannot be assumed from form alone. A piece bearing the kiss-lock silhouette may be Cashin-era or a later in-house continuation, and authentication must rely on era cues other than the closure itself.

Description

The kissing-lock coin purse is a small-form leather pouch closed by a hinged brass kiss-lock frame — the two-ball clasp that separates (“kisses apart”) to open. The body is glove-tanned cowhide in Cashin-era and early NYC-era examples. Per the dealer-compiled record, the interior sometimes features a contrasting-color leather “surprise” lining [yourgreatfinds-collectors-guide] — a Cashin-style detail consistent with her broader vocabulary of considered color and material contrast.

Specific dimensional variants and a full color-by-era list are not yet pinned to a primary catalog source in the archive’s working references; this section will be expanded once a 1962–1974 catalog or a dated NYC-era catalog page is matched to specific configurations.

Designer attribution

The kissing-lock form is attributed to Cashin as a signature design across multiple Tier 3 sources [vintagecoachie, yourgreatfinds-collectors-guide]. The C-stream research treats this as likely rather than confirmed because no primary catalog page or UCLA Cashin papers reference has yet been matched to the model. Either anchor — a 1962–1974 Coach catalog page showing the coin purse, or an entry in the Bonnie Cashin Collection at UCLA [ucla-cashin-papers] — would settle the authorship.

The Cashin Carry tote and the kissing-lock coin purse are the two small-leather-goods forms most cleanly associated with Cashin in the secondary literature; the tote has a Tier 2 anchor [wwd-coach-early-years] that the coin purse currently lacks.

Continuation post-Cashin

Variants of the kissing-lock coin purse remained in production well after Cashin’s 1974 contract end. The kiss-lock silhouette alone does not date a piece to her tenure: a coin purse with the kissing-lock form may be a Cashin-era original (1962–1974), an early NYC-era continuation (1975–1984), or a later-NYC continuation (1985–1994). Era discipline (per STYLE.md §4) requires that a post-1974 example be described as “in the Cashin form” or “Cashin- influenced,” not “designed by Cashin.”

Authentication

Authenticate by era cue, not by closure. The kiss-lock frame is shared across all production windows.

• Pre-creed era examples have no creed. A Cashin-era (1962–1974) coin purse predates the numbered leather creed patch and carries either a small interior metal tag or no interior label at all. Absence of a creed is not a fake tell for this era.
• Later examples may carry a creed. Post-1974 continuation pieces produced during the NYC era can carry the standard numbered creed. A “COACH LEATHERWARE / EST. 1941 / NEW YORK CITY” creed places a kissing-lock coin purse in the NYC-era continuation window, not the Cashin period.
• Brass frame quality and stamping vary by era. Earlier Cashin- era frames are unstamped solid brass; later NYC-era production may show “COACH” stamping on hardware adjacent to the frame. Brass is non-magnetic and heavy for its size; a magnetic frame indicates plated steel and a much later piece.
• Style-number absence is era-appropriate for small accessories in general; per research/E-authentication.md, coin purses legitimately ship without serials in some windows.
• Interior contrast leather, where present, is consistent with the Cashin-era detail per [yourgreatfinds-collectors-guide], but is not by itself a date anchor.

When in doubt, the creed (its presence, absence, and wording) resolves era more reliably than the closure form.

Sources

• [yourgreatfinds-collectors-guide] — Yourgreatfinds, “Collectors Guide to Vintage Coach Bags.” Notes “Kisslock Coin Purses” and the contrasting-color interior leather “surprise.”
• [vintagecoachie] — Vintagecoachie style guide, “Coach Leatherware.” Lists the kissing-lock coin purse among Cashin signatures.
• [ucla-cashin-papers] — UCLA Library Special Collections, Bonnie Cashin Collection of Fashion, Theater, and Film Costume Design, 1913–2000. Cited as the open primary anchor for Cashin attribution; not yet matched to this model.
• [wwd-coach-early-years] — WWD, “Coach: The Early Years.” Cited for context on the small-leather-goods forms most commonly attributed to Cashin’s Coach output.