When you purchase a piece of artwork or other collectible, the expectation is that the item in question is genuine. Nobody wants to pay authentic prices for a fake product. That’s why certificates of authenticity are so popular. They give buyers something tangible they can point to and say, “I know it’s real because it’s right here in black and white!” Certificates of authenticity give collectors and investors a greater sense of confidence when making a purchase. After all, it’s one thing for a seller to claim that a piece of artwork is the real deal. It’s completely different if they have a certificate of authenticity.
Or is it?
You see, the reality is that certificates of authenticity aren’t always everything they’re cracked up to be. There are billions of certificates floating around out there. Many of them are real and correctly identify artwork and collectibles. But a large number of them are fake. And knowing the difference isn’t always simple. But this only scratches the surface when it comes to the problems with certificates of authenticity.
Are they a waste?
Many people are under the illusion that certificates of authenticity are the only way to verify a piece of artwork. But this is simply untrue. You can authenticate a piece o f art with any paper trail, including valid receipts, bills of sale, or proofs of purchase that can be authenticated by the artist, their agent, or an established dealer for the artist. Likewise, an appraisal from a recognized expert on the artist is just as good as a certificate of authenticity. Sometimes it’s even better.
Certificates of Authenticity Can Give You a False Sense of Security
As we’ve already noted, having a certificate of authenticity (or CoA for short) is not the same as having a genuine piece of art. CoAs can be faked. The reality is that there are no laws or statues that govern the creation of CoAs. In addition, there are no universal standards for what needs to be included in one. This means that literally anyone can write a CoA and put anything they want on it. Dishonest sellers have been known to forge artwork and create fake CoAs to go along with it. And this isn’t just a recent problem. It’s been going on for decades. This means that you should always be careful with CoAs, even if they’re dated from the 1950s or before.
So, if a certificate of authenticity is going to have any meaning, you’ll need a way to verify that it hasn’t been forged or faked.
Certificates of Authenticity Present Unique Problems for Online Sales
Buying a work that claims to include a certificate of authenticity can leave you with big problems. If a CoA is going to be worth anything to you, you’ll need to examine it before you make the purchase. Unfortunately, most online sales and auction sites don’t give you that option. As a result, you can end up with a product that includes a CoA that’s utterly worthless. Don’t make a purchase until you’ve seen and verified the CoA in question. If you do, there’s a good chance you’ll end up disappointed.
So, if a certificate of authenticity is going to be helpful, it needs to be accessible before you make a purchase.
Where Did That Certificate of Authenticity Come From Anyway?
One of the big problems with certificates of authenticity is that they don’t always originate from where they need to. Ideally, every certificate of authenticity should find its origin with the artist, a confirmed dealer/agent for the artist, or a bona fide expert on the artist. Anyone else’s opinion on a piece’s authenticity is worthless.
So, if a certificate of authenticity is going to be worthwhile, it needs to originate at the source.
How Does That Certificate of Authenticity Describe the Artwork?
Genuine CoAs should include more than a title and a signature. They need to describe the artwork in detail, including its artist, medium, title or subject, dimensions, edition number if necessary, previous owners, and anything else that can be used to positively identify the art in question. And CoAs don’t have to rely solely on words. Images and even videos can be even more helpful. On top of all this, a quality CoA should have the authenticator’s verifiable signature and contact information.
So, if a certificate of authenticity is going to be useful, it needs to describe the artwork in question and include a certifiable signature from the artist or an expert on the artist.
A Better Solution
Let’s think about this for a moment. The best certificates of authenticity are verifiable, are always accessible, originate at the source, and describe the artwork in detail. These are the very things that Regestra’s online artwork registration system will excels at.
When an artist registers his art through Regestra, they create a permanent record on our blockchain that identifies the artwork in question and gives them the ability to describe it in painstaking detail (even including images and videos as needed). Every subsequent sale is also recorded so that the artwork’s provenance can be proven without a doubt. And since Regestra takes advantage of secure blockchain technology, forging or faking our certification process will be practically impossible.
Certificates of authenticity may be better than nothing, but they simply have too many problems to be a long-term solution. Artists and collectors need a more reliable system to verify their artwork. Regestra is that system.
