Ari,
Time to think outside the box. First of all, let's not use the term COA
since it has been discredited by the "collectible" manufacturing
industry which printed them up by the millions. I'm talking about a
signed and dated "opinion of authenticity" from a real recognized expert
with the specific poster identified in detail. But, yes, after the sale,
that opinion certificate could be used to defraud in several ways, from
faking another copy of the certificate to handing it over with a
duplicate fake poster instead of the real thing it was issued on. That's
where thinking outside the box comes in -- because what you say about
the problem with the way COAs have been used in the past is correct --
so that's why my proposal is very specific:
I'm saying that a NEW, currently-dated and signed, independent 3rd party
"opinion of authenticity" would have to be issued *every* time the
poster was sold. You don't just get the first certificate and then
continue to use it to "certify" the poster every time it changes hands.
No. Instead, every time the poster changes hands again a buyer would
insist upon and have every right to expect that it re-certified with a
currently dated and signed opinion certificate, preferably from a
different recognized expert than the one who did the previous
certification. The person whose signature is on the currently-dated
opinion of authenticity could be called up and asked "hey, did you issue
an opinion of authenticity on this poster on this date?" Or, the
verification expert could maintain a website where all recently issued
certificates were listed and avoid the phone calls. If a certificate
were more than a few months old, it would not be considered "current"
and any one thinking of buying the item would be well-advised to insist
that a new one be issued before handing over $20 grand.
Now, wait... before anyone howls about the "added expense", it would
only cost maybe $100 to $200 bucks to get a poster certified and what is
that compared to spending $8,000...$15,000... $20,000 or much more for
an item? Remember, I am only proposing this be done on the very pricey
stuff, which is where the big problem lies.
What I'm suggesting is that this hobby-industry get serious and creative
and come up with a solution to the problem instead of just moaning and
groaning about it and claiming there's "nothing to be done about it".
-- JR
Ari Richards wrote:
No,
issue a COA, great, then buyer buys a fake after and sells it with the COA, not
so great, the proof is the poster, COAs cant work, because they arent part of
the item, I deal with this daily.
I sell you a coin worth $50,000, I CAN give a COA, but what if you buy a $20
coin same date etc and sell it with my COA?
THE PROOF IS THE ITEM, COAs arent (even) worth the paper they are printed on.
Ari
--- On Wed, 2/9/09, Jeff Potokar <[email protected]> wrote:
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