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| Limited Edition |
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| Certificate of Authenticity |
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The Score Board Inc. |
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| Certificate of Authenticity |
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| Limited to 28 Firing Days |
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| Certificate of Authenticity |
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| Nabisco Limited Edition |
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| Certificate of Authenticity |
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| Partial List of Trusted
authenticators for Sports Cards and Memorabilia. |
BGS
Beckett Grading Service
JSA
James Spence Authentication
MLB Authentication
Mounted Memories
PSA/DNA
Professional Sports Authenticator
SGC
Sportscard Guarantee Corporation
Steiner Sports
TriStar Productions, Inc
UDA
Upper Deck Authenticated |
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| KeyMan
Collectibles |
NEWSLETTER |
May 2016
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The Value of a C.O.A - Certificate of
Authenticity |
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Steven KeyMan |
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& Limited Edition
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By Steven KeyMan |
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Founder of
Keymancollectibles.com,
and a long time
collector, Steven
KeyMan has more than 30
years of experience in
researching, and
cataloging information
on Baseball
Memorabilia. First used
for his own personal
collection, and then by
helping others find
information on their
collectibles, the
website grew into the
largest online resource
for baseball
memorabilia |
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Ask
Steven: Direct your questions or feedback,
about Baseball Memorabilia to Steven KeyMan
Steve@keymancollectibles.com You can also Send
KeyMan pictures of your personal Memorabilia Display,
and get your own Free
Collectors Showcase Room featured on the website.. |
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The credibility of the company that
issues a C.O.A - Certificate of
Authenticity is almost as important as the
authenticity of the item itself. This
assures the buyer that the item is
genuine. The
weight the C.O.A carries will be a
major factor in value for most
collectibles. Just like the "Limited
Edition" C.O.A., some are just a
marketing ploy.
There are different levels of C.O.A's.
Correctly identifying & understanding
the difference between a quality C.O.A.
and one used as a marketing gimmick,
could be the difference in buying an
item of quality, throwing your money away on a mass
produced novelty or a fraudulent item.
 Standard
Stock certificates sold in stationary
stores, were commonly used as C.O.A's
before the days, of higher tech
authenticating companies hit the
market, such as UDA-Upper Deck
Authentic, or PSA/DNA. They were fine
for the day but it still left the door
open for a scam artist, to print
their own C.O.A.'s. The first thing to
look for with these type of
certificates is the company that issued
the C.O.A.
If the company is reputable and
provides proper contact information
they will have a
presence on-line. If you're spending
good money don't hesitate to research
the company. An unknown company with
little or no, on-line information could
spell trouble. The C.O.A could have
been issued by a small local company,
that went out of business years ago and
the C.O.A. will carry little or no
weight at all, or even worse printed by
a scam artist to sell a fraudulent
item. If the C.O.A does not have
sufficient company information, and I
have seen many,
Buyer Beware.
This "Limited Edition" Numbered Shirt certificate pictured here stating
that the item is Authorized By Ken
Griffey Jr. is not authorized. It was
fraudulently
printed
 by
a savvy T-Shirt vendor. If the T-Shirt
and the certificate were legitimate both
would have trademarks, copyrights, and
at the very least a company name.
Especially an item from around 1990
when licensed marketing really took
off.
A note about "Limited Edition." This is a Marketing ploy to sell
memorabilia.
Limited edition is a term often used by
manufactures of cards and memorabilia
to indicate scarcity. A limited edition
means just that - production of the
item in question will be limited to a
certain number. However, that number,
supply, may be large or small, and is
relevant to the number of collectors
interested in it.
Demand.
The value of a limited edition item is only high if the number made is
less than the number of collectors that
are in the market for that item. If the
limited number made is more than the
number of collectors interested, then
over time the value will lower from the
original issued price. In most cases
such as with most ceramic plates and
figurines this is what happens. The
value goes down. "Only 28 Firing Days"
better put your order in now!
Limited Numbered autographed baseballs or bats is another marketing ploy.
It's nonsense. "Only 500 baseballs
signed!" You will see the item & C.O.A
numbered as 203/500, for example, the
203rd item of 500 baseball signed. This
would have a higher value if there were
only 500 baseballs in existence signed by that
player, but the fact is
there are plenty of others in the
market, other than the 500 signed
exclusively to that signing. The value
will still be dictated by the supply
offered in the market and the demand
for that payers memorabilia. Numbered
or not.
 Back
to The C.O.A. - Score Board was a
very popular authenticator for
autographs being sold on the QVC - Home
Shopping Network around the 1990's, and
is no longer in business. They did not
use matching serial numbered stickers
on both the COA and the item signed,
connecting the two. An autograph
authentication process revolutionized
by UDA - Upper Deck Authentic.
There was no way of
proving the Score Board COA belonged to
the signed item being sold. Scam
artists would copy the Score board COAs
and use them to sell fake autographs.
Because of this, The Score Board COAs can be used as
toilet paper. They hold no weight, and
Score Board authenticated items on
average, sell
well below market value. Signatures
that have not been properly
authenticated could sell at half the
market value or less.
Other than the fancy border, the Score Board type C.O.A. is no different than the Stationary Store
Stock Certificates. A high quality C.O.A.
from a reputable company will have
matching serial numbers connecting the
item to the certificate. Stay away from
C.O.A.'s issued with little or no
company information, and use the
information provided to research the companies
background. If the company has a shady
past or is connected to a scam you will
find out on-line through a simple search.
If you find no information on the
company it should also send up a red flag,
especially for high valued collectibles.
Reputable dealers that offer private C.O.A's with a lifetime guarantee is
nice, and I'm sure most stay to their
word, but what happens when they go out
of business? I bought a Lifetime
membership to a fitness gym and they went out
of business. I'm still alive, and now over
weight. It's tough to resell an item
authenticated by an unknown company at
market value.
The bottom line is if the item is not
accompanied by a C.O.A. issued by a
well known, reputable and Trusted
company, it will have a lower value.
Collectors pay for that trust.
Otherwise it is just worth the amount
of money collectors are willing to
gamble, on their belief that the item
is authentic. You will find a partial
list of Trusted Authenticators in the
left column of this page. You could
also find authenticators
and distributors arraigned or charged
with fraud, listed on the
FBI’s Operation Bullpen website
from April of 2000. |
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
RELATED RESOURCES |
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KeyMan
Collectibles Collectors Corner
- Keep up with the latest collecting news,
announcements, and articles of interest on the
webs best resource for baseball memorabilia. |
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KeyMan Collectibles Baseball
Memorabilia Facebook Group -
Post Questions and comments relating to
Baseball Collectibles and Memorabilia. Interact
with other collectors or show off your
collection. |
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KeyMan Collectibles Network54 Forum
- A great option for those that "Don't do
facebook" Post Questions and
comments relating to Baseball Collectibles and
Memorabilia |
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