Have you ever noticed when a manufacturer wants to step up the credibility of an item they will offer a certificate of authenticity. I can get an official Gold Double Eagle Proof as a 10 Mil 24K Gold-clad Proof with Saint-Gaudens' magnificently engraved Miss Liberty on one side and the majestic American Eagle on the other. A great gift for collectors-each comes with it own Certificate of Authenticity. What, exactly is being certified? I can also get the President Obama special edition coin collection, I could be amongst the first to have the most sought after collection that celebrates the most significant, even in Presidential Elections, since the founding fathers created this great country. I mean this special coin collection represents the election of the first African American President of the United States. I will get brilliant and uncirculated coins that come with a numbered certificate of authenticity, certifying what – exactly? That the coin is uncirculated. That Barrack Obama is the first African American President? What exactly are they certifying. I could get a the porcelain baseball card collectable mug with Mickey Mantle's photograph on the front and his life time statistics on the back that was limited to 30 days of production, and yes believe it or not I get the certificate of authenticity. So are they certifying that is mug, are they certifying that it has Mickey Mantle’s photograph on it, are they certifying that it was only made for 30 days? What exactly is it all about?
My first experience of being sucked into believing the certificate actually meant something was with a purchase from the Franklin Mint. Way back in the day I ordered the one and only collectable I have ever purchased from the Franklin Mint. This set was “The World’s Great Performance Cars” sub named “miniatures collections” and it included 100 miniatures in 24 karat gold electroplated on solid sterling silver. The certificate of authenticity tells me that along with fact that the collection was limited to 25,000 sets. I got the pieces over time, I believe it was 2 or 4 per month and they were basically 10 bucks a piece. I am not sure what the collection is worth now a days but I pulled it out to look at for this oratory and that was the first time I have looked at them in over 10 years. Well I may have to put that thing on EBay and see if the addition of the certificate of authenticity actually brings me in more money or if it is just a worthless scrap of paper.
In the art world there seems to be tremendous abuse in the "certificate of authenticity" or COA business. This is even more prevalent when talking about online auctions. Unless a certificate of authenticity originates from and is signed by either the artist, the publisher of the art, a confirmed dealer or agent of the artist or an acknowledged expert on the artist, that certificate is pretty much meaningless. Pretty much meaningless! Hummmmm. While a legitimate COA must contain specific details about the art such as when and how it was produced, the names of people or companies involved in its production, the art's exact title, dimensions, and the names of reference books or similar resources that contain either specific or related information about either that work of art or the artist. Surprising enough a formal certificate of authenticity is not necessarily required to prove that a work of art is genuine, a valid receipt, bill of sale, or proof of purchase from either the artist herself or a confirmed and established dealer, publisher, or agent of the artist will do. So what does it really mean when it comes to art? I do not understand it well enough to state for sure but it seems like BS to me.
Now after a trip to certificateofauthenticity.com l learned that Certificate of Authenticity’s are absolutely invaluable, absolutely invaluable they tell me. I was intrigued so I read on to try to understand why. Certificates of authenticity sure sound like a good idea, right? After all, I am told, you have a piece of paper that says "This autograph or product is genuine!" they also tell me that the slip of paper gives me lots of peace of mind and that it will help me sleep well knowing that I have a genuine autograph or product. Well I am not an art dealer or purchaser of collectables so maybe I am way off base with my whole Certificate of Authenticity skepticism. With the Certificate of Authenticity templates which are accessed online from your computer (no software disk will be mailed to you), you can create a Certificate of Authenticity for any product or item you want to sell. By including a certificate of authenticity to the buyer of your product or item, you are stating that this item is authentic, which only the seller can verify. We only sell the COA templates, we do not verify that the product or item you are selling is authenticate. Now if we were to ask Microsoft about this they would tell us that they are among the many firms who ship a Certificate Of Authenticity with their software products, including Microsoft Windows® and other programs. They also have software that authenticates the Windows operating system loaded on your computer so to protect intellectual property I guess I can understand the need, or can I? I am not sure I need the actual Certificate Of Authenticity for the product, Microsoft has it written into the code to protect their property so the need for a physical certificate seems unnecessary to me.
In this day and age, and for any item you can purchase from a television or radio advertisement does not need a certificate of authenticity. There is absolutely no value in a certificate of authenticity on a hearing aid or some meaningless collectable or anything that cost 19.95. There is absolutely no value in a declaration of authenticity on herbs from an Herb and Spice company. Unless I am buying the original Mona Lisa created by old Leonardo daVinci himself I do not think I am going to need a certificate of authenticity for much of anything.
DO NOT let them suck you in and if you do please let me know because I offer a certificate of stupidity to go with your certificate of authenticity. For a small fee, I even offer a certificate of authenticity on the certificate of stupidity.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
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an example where "provenance" or authentication documentation matters: a Colt .45 revolver which was previously valued at $2800, was raised to nearly $6000 with a 'Serial number verification' letter on Factory letterhead from the Colt Factory which stated that the pistol had originally been sold to an original member of the Texas Rangers back in the 1860s... as you said above this is a far cry from a COA.
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