Authenticity and COA's

Garry King as part owner of Autographs.co.uk has been directly involved with dealing in and authenticating autographs since the early 90's (thats the 1990's not the 1890's!) and his expert testimony has been used in various court cases during that time. Garry has been voted UACC Dealer of the Year, AFTAL Dealer of the Year, and was awarded the UACC Presidents Quality award in 2006.

Garry has also appeared or advised on many TV shows including 'Pawnstars UK' 'Posh Pawnbrokers' 'Inside Out' 'Fake Britain' 'The One Show' 'The Real Hustle' and many more including editions of 'Rip Off Britain' 'Fake Britain' and Millionair Hoarders, as well as various local TV programs. All this has allowed Garry to build up a vast knowledge regarding fake autographs and the people who create or sell them, and here are some words of advice that you may find helpful.

Garry has have provided expert witness testimony for both trading standards and the Police, which is used in court against the many dealers who pretend to be experts but are really just confidence tricksters out to take your money. And all of this can be checked with a few searches, the latest such case being this one!

• You must never consider an items authenticity based only on a COA or some story that suggests the seller got the item in person. A COA is only as good as the seller is honest, so if the seller is not honest, then your COA is likely worthless, so never assume that a COA "guarantees" an items authenticity.

• If a dealer states that they are members of any association, you should always check those facts out to be sure. For instance, If they say they are a member of the UACC, RACC or CollectorApproved this can (and should) easily be checked on the list of dealers at the relevant websites. You may be surprised to find that some sellers actually lie about this!

So the next time you want to buy something signed, check out the dealer first, and not the fancy talk or COA's they offer, it could save you a small fortune! In particular, when anyone states that they are a UACC Dealer, always check that they are, as most are only members and not 'Registered Dealers', and you can find more about this on the UACC website. Registered Dealers are all listed on the website, but members are just that, they are not named on the website and are not allowed to use the name or logo to promote sales etc, but some do to simply create the impression they are reputable dealers, so beware!

As a customer you should ask yourself this "if i was a dealer in autographs, would i not want to show the public that i am both honest and trustworthy by joining one of the two best known trade associations?" I think your answer would be yes, so why are some dealers not members? Keep in mind that both associations only have a list of dealers that have joined, and not one containing the names of those that have been refused!