`decode-coding-string' question

[Paul Pogonyshev]

Say I have a string with various text properties set.  If I then
apply `decode-coding-string' to it, all the properties are lost.
Is there a way to transfer properties from ``character beginning''
(i.e. first character of a number being combined during decoding)
to the decoded character?

I.e. UTF-8 representation of copyright sign is "\xc2\xa9".  Can I
transfer properties of '\xc2' character to the copyright sign
character and discard properties of '\xa9' character?

Paul