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Authenticity is Everything
COA serve a purpose. But not for the reasons they were designed for.
Seems in today's world little matters except who issued the COA. It's one of those feel good ideas that sound great in theory but does not work well in the real world applications. In an imperfect world why do so many "collectors" value them so much?
In my eyes they serve one purpose; one clue to solve the mystery of "is it real?". We live in a culture where too many people either do not have the desire to study the hobby well enough to have a clue or are just too darn lazy.
COAs are simply a marketing tool created to sell autographs. And now there is a whole industry charging big dollars to provide a service that is only slightly better, in most cases, than what the average person can figure out if they just did a quick Google search or asked a few questions.
Just a thought. Before you buy, be slightly more diligent and save yourself a lot of grief down the road.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on
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He's gotten a mention here. I think the narrower the specialty the more accurate the opinion is. I think when an authenticator broadens their coverage, the higher chance of errors. We are only human and our minds can only retain so much.
I do have a list of collectors who specialize in a specific signature with years of experience. I like the ability to contact them directly and know I'm getting accurate information.
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Permalink Reply by James on
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I completely agree with you, Joe. Specialization helps to yield superior competence. I’ve said before that there is simply no way that PSA or JSA or BAS can possibly be experts on the hundreds of different celebrity autographs that they try to authenticate. Let’s be honest. Are the middle-aged men that work at these TPAs really going to have expertise in the latest Disney heartthrob? That’s pretty doubtful, but if there is a PSA sticker attached to that Disney celeb’s photo, people will buy it. But even if they do have some competence with some young upstart’s autograph, we still don’t know who “they” are. We don’t don’t know who authenticated that autograph because the TPA doesn’t tell you. At least when you send a music autograph to Roger Epperson, you know it was Roger that authenticated it. But again, there’s just no way a TPA can have real knowledge with so many different celebrities.
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As for living, breathing individuals, I would think Andreas Wiermer would overall likely be the best since he has studied JFK quite extensively. But really, there is no one who is foolproof with JFK items, even Andreas.
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That's a great point, James. I stated that I did not collect political autographs so I threw out a possibility from my vague experience. The best place to get advice is by networking with those who have superior experience. Learning who the "go to" people are in that specialty. Most of the best people I know have experience more reliable than corporate TPA services.
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Permalink Reply by Abcd on
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I think the crux of the conversation was about research in genral and not about Google search. We're being selective in our interpretation. I don't think there is much disagreement. I don't disagree with Joe, Steve or Goodcat. We're all on the same page, but we're using a different language.
It's donut Time.
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I’m sure many of us have looked at the “hauls of shame” site, although I haven’t been there in awhile. Does anyone know how accurate their information is? If you’ve never been to their site, they really lampoon the major TPAs and point out the colossal mistakes the TPAs have made. It’s very eye-opening if true. We’ve all seen some mistakes the TPAs have made. I personally have seen some outrageous errors made by big TPAs that end up for sale on eBay. Some of these mistakes have been real head-scratchers...as in...no one in their right mind could have possibly authenticated that item.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on
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Most of their info on errors from the TPA’s is accurate. Just have to cipher through the BS cause there is some of that there too.
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I agree having been in the Hobby since 1980 I have Learned to Do the Work myself with Research UACC and others in volved over the yrs. I cannot see paying alot of Money to someone who Has No More imformation then I do .
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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In some cases less...
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Yes now with Internet it is so much easier then ever and in Most cases the so Called Paper that says it is real are not worth one cent unless YOU can Prove it.I do Not Pay someone to tell me what i already Know.
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