Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

 

What is Genuine COA?

Genuine COA provides third-party witnessing for the signing of memorabilia, issues an exclusive Certificate of Authenticity with a unique serial number to memorialize the event and maintains information about the signing in an online database, searchable by the assigned serial number.

 

 

What does COA stand for?

Certificate of Authenticity

 

 

What is third-party witnessing to a signature?

A third-party witness is a party (person), outside of the signing transaction between the person signing and the person who is acquiring the signature, who can testify to the authenticity of the autograph.  In other words, a Genuine COA representative must be present while your item is being signed and, therefore, would be able to confirm your claim of authenticity.

 

 

Is a third-party witness important?

YES.  If you have an item of memorabilia signed with the intention of the item having value to anyone other than you, you have to be able to prove that it was signed by the actual person whose name is subscribed on the item of memorabilia.  In other words, you need to prove it is not a forgery.  An impartial, credible, third-party witness can mean all the difference between an autographed item of memorabilia having value and being worthless.    

 

 

How does Genuine COA witness an item being signed?

At events where Genuine COA is present, a Genuine COA authorized representative will accompany each customer to their respective requested signer and witness the item of memorabilia being autographed.  After the signature is obtained, the customer will have an exclusive, serial numbered, holographic sticker adhered to the autographed item in a location specified by the customer, and be issued a Certificate of Authenticity with the matching holographic sticker.  That serial number will be entered into the Genuine COA database and will be searchable on the Genuine COA website for confirmation of the details of the original signing event.  

 

 

Will a Genuine COA Certificate of Authenticity, likely, increase the value of my signed item?

YES.  There are millions of pieces of signed memorabilia being sold worldwide.  The sad truth is that the vast majority of it is fraudulent.  Even if a signature is authentic, without a third-party witness, there is no real way to validate the signature with 100% confidence.  This is why you see so many autographed items being sold on online auction sites, sitting with zero bids.  Educated buyers know better than to buy an item with a signature that can’t be substantiated or supported.  An autograph that has been witnessed by Genuine COA, is an item of memorabilia whose signature can be supported by a witness other than the person selling the item.  This gives the buyer greater confidence in the signature.  An autographed item that has been witnessed by a Genuine COA authorized representative will, likely, sell faster and for a larger sum of money.  

 

 

Doesn't a picture/video of a celebrity signing an item offer proof of autograph authenticity?

It is important to remember that a picture or video alone, does not offer proof that an autographed item is the very same item that was photographed or filmed. Educated collectors are well aware that this misconception is a very popular deception used by forgers. Forgers will often use a picture or video of a celebrity signing as a template, to simply recreate an item, and represent it as the same item that is seen in the photo or video. Without anything to tie the signed item to the actual signing event details (such as a Genuine COA, tamper-evident, serialized sticker) there is no way to confirm that your item, is the same one depicted. 

 

Another thing to be aware of is that not all events allow photos to be taken during a signing. Due to time constraints or crowd control, pictures of the celebrity may be prohibited.

 

 

How does Genuine COA support the authenticity of a signature?

An item that is witnessed being signed by a Genuine COA authorized representative is issued a tamper-proof, holographic sticker with an exclusive serial number.  A matching sticker can be found on the certificate of authenticity that is issued to the owner of the signed item.  That serial number can be searched on the Genuine COA website Authentication search feature, and the details of the signing are made available to the person utilizing the search.  This feature allows the verification of the respective signature and details of the signing event to be available to anyone that is given the related sticker number.  In addition, anyone searching the serial number will be given a link from www.genuinecoa.com to the publicly filed, notarized affidavit from the authorized representative of Genuine COA who witnessed the original signing.  

 

 

What information will be publicly viewable after searching a serial number on www.genuinecoa.com?

Information will include, but not be limited to, the following.

  • The name (only) of the current owner of the autographed item (if this information has been provided to Genuine COA by the previous owner)

     

  • A brief description of the item that received the autograph(s)

     

  • The name(s) of the person(s) who signed the item

     

  • The name of the authorized representative of Genuine COA who served as a witness to the signing

     

  • The date, physical location and name of the event during which the signature was obtained

     

  • A link to the publicly filed, notarized affidavit signed by the witness attesting to the autograph being genuine.

     

 

 

Is there anything that binds the witness to being truthful?

After the conclusion of the signing event, each authorized representative of Genuine COA is required to sign an affidavit, which is then notarized, asserting to the fact that, for each serial numbered autographed item for which they were a responsible, they personally witnessed the signatures placed on each item by the named celebrity at the event.  This affidavit is publicly filed through a third-party agency and is retrievable by anyone, either through the third- party website or by the link provided by www.genuinecoa.com when the corresponding serial number is searched and details of the original signing are returned.  

 

 

How do I get an answer to a question not provided in the on this page?

You may reach us by the following:
Phone – (817) 473-9229
Email – info@genuinecoa.com
Or, you may use the Contact Us Form located within this site and we will reply within 24-48 hours.