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BEWARE... FAKE JSA COA'S ARE IN THE MARKET PLACE... HERE IS THE PROOF.....

After many years of speculation the proof is finally here.

I recently purchased a Matt Barkley signed USC jersey with JSA coa off of ebay. There was no clear photo of the coa, hologram or any mention of the coa number. I did however buy the jersey based on the fact that it was "authenticated" by JSA.

Please allow me to back up just a little bit. I have been collecting, selling and doing autograph signings for almost 20 years so i am in no means new to the whole autograph and "authentication" process.

At any rate I received the jersey in the mail within 4 days, once I opened the jersey I immediately realized that the signature was indeed a counterfeit. I am not by any means claiming to be an autograph expert or a Matt Barkley expert for that matter however without even comparing the signature to an "authentic" one I can tell that it was slowly signed with many stops and skips. I then was examining the coa card and being around the hobby for almost 20 years and seeing coas from JSA since they opened their business I realized that the feel of the paper that this coa was printed on was not the typical paper normally used for the JSA coa, I then decided to grab one of my own JSA coa's to compare to and this is where it all started to come together. (you will see from the photo's I post below)

I then decided to look on ebay and compare the signatures to others certed by JSA (because I am not an expert on Matt Barkley signatures). I came across a listing from another member selling a Barkley jersey so i pulled up the listing. I was surprised when I noticed that the coa number was in fact the same coa number I had on my jersey. After comparing the coa's I noticed the big mistakes made by the printers of these fake coa's. You will see this in my photo's that I post below.

ABOVE IS THE ORIGINAL EBAY LISTING FOR THE FAKE JERSEY WITH FAKE COA...

 

HERE IS THE REAL JERSEY WITH REAL JSA COA. NOTE THE COA NUMBER..

HERE IS THE FAKE JSA COA AND FAKE SIGNATURE (THIS IS NOW IN MY POSSESION)

HERE IS A CLOSE UP OF THE ORIGINAL JSA COA AND HOLOGRAM, PLEASE NOTICE THE (F42843) NUMBER ON THE COA AND COMPARE THIS COA TO THE ONE POSTED JUST ABOVE (THE FAKE ONE)..

HERE'S A CLOSE UP OF THE FAKE COA

HERE IS A CLOSE UP OF THE REAL JSA COA AND HOLOGRAM. NOTICE HOW PERFECTLY THE LETTER "F" LINES UP WITH THE NUMBERS..

HERE IS THE FAKE JSA COA, NOTICE 1) THE FONT IN THE NUMBERS AND HOW THEY ARE PRINTED ON TOP OF THE CARD AND NOT STAMPED INTO THE CARD LIKE THE JSA CARDS. 2) NOTICE HOW THE "F" AND THE NUMBERS ARE NOT LINED UP AS IT IS WITH THE REAL COA.

(apparently I cannot upload any other photo's for some reason because I have many more but I must have uploaded too many already on the site???)

 

I would like to clear up that this is in no way a shot on JSA, the purpose for me posting this is to inform other buyers that there are fake coa's out there in the hobby and what to look for when buying an item already authenticated. I can assure everyone that this is most likely not the only fake coa on the market, I am sure that there was not only 1 coa and sticker made only for a Matt Barkley jersey. I have heard that PSA/DNA has had the same issue which is why they now have a hologram burned into the coa's however no one has ever pointed out what to look for with the fake PSA/DNA coa's, hopefully it's as easy as this was to figure out.

I would also like to add that I did speak to a field agent from the FBI both yesterday and today and in fact have a meeting in Manhattan on Friday with a field agent from FBI.

Views: 85257

Comment by DB on October 7, 2012 at 1:52am

@Kristin - ebay customer service number 800 322 9266 option 2.

Comment by Mike Shepherd on November 3, 2013 at 6:53am

Does the Basic Cert certification number leave an imprint?  If so, was there ever a time when it did not?  Mine does not appear to and I am a little concerned. 

Comment by Richard S. Simon on December 26, 2015 at 6:53am

I have not read the entire thread but great work here!!

My questions are, and sorry if they have already been answered, was there ever any comment from JSA about this? Has JSA been notified about this problem?

Comment by trent on February 14, 2018 at 1:44pm

Is my JSA Card fake?

Comment by Steve Zarelli on February 14, 2018 at 3:07pm

I believe that JSA certificate is fine. The witnessed COAs always begin with a W. So the W was probably pre-printed onto the card and then they add the serial number after. That’s why it’s out of alignment.

If you’re really concerned, contact JSA and ask. I’m sure they’ll respond.

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on February 14, 2018 at 5:03pm

Agree w Steve I've seen this before in several different areas. 

Comment by Richard S. Simon on February 14, 2018 at 5:53pm

Many years ago a ridiculous attempt was made to copy my COA. It looked nothing like my COA, just using my name. I tried to find the source but could not.

And as an FYI - Years ago I saw fake COA's with Donald Frangipani's (forensic examiner) name on them.

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