Identifying Authentic Memorabilia

autographOne of the most important aspects of collecting any type of memorabilia is the ability to determine what memorabilia is authentic memorabilia and what is not. This is especially vitally important when it comes to autographed memorabilia in a variety of different arenas such as sports star memorabilia and movie star memorabilia. If you enjoy collecting in a realm where having authentic memorabilia is an important consideration for you to make, then knowing how to identify real authentic memorabilia in comparison to fake memorabilia is vitally important for you.

The FBI has recently reported that as much as 70 percent of all autographed pieces of sports memorabilia are actually inauthentic, or otherwise fake. This is a truly astounding number if you think about it. The best way that you can possibly ensure that your autograph is really and truly authentic is to have the athlete sign the memorabilia for you, in front of you. The next best thing if you cannot have this happen is to have a reputable sports memorabilia company authenticate the autographed memorabilia for you. You need to put a large amount of emphasis on the concept of reputable, because there are also companies out there that are not reputable and should be avoided at all costs as a result.

One example of a reputable sports memorabilia company that you can rely on to provide you with authentication of your memorabilia is Upper Deck. They originally started their memorabilia authentication process in the year 1992 in order to give collectors the confidence that they needed that the memorabilia they were purchasing was going to be the real deal rather than one of the 70 percent of phonies and forgeries out there. There is a five step patented program that Upper Deck employers in order to authenticate the memorabilia that they sell to their customers. First and foremost, every single autograph is witnessed by an Upper Deck representative, or it is not considered to be authentic.

Next, a document is signed by both the athlete and the representative that documents the autograph session. A hologram featuring a serial number is secured to accompany the signed sports memorabilia, and then a certificate of authenticity featuring a similar hologram is assigned to each of the pieces of memorabilia. Finally, each and every piece of authentic sports memorabilia is packaged with a card for registration that allows the owner to register their item with the Upper Deck Company, allowing their registration to be logged in a permanent file along with the document providing the authentication for the memorabilia. Should the item change hands, the new owner will be provided with a complete history of the item from when it was signed until when it was received.

This is one of the best possible ways that you can make sure that your memorabilia is authentic, so if you are looking for memorabilia that you can trust based on its authenticity, you should see what Upper Deck has to offer.

Photo Credits: tabrandt

Originally posted 2009-07-29 05:48:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Collecting Sports Autographed Memorabilia

racingOne of the keys to sports autographed memorabilia is to know whether or not your sports memorabilia is actually authentic. A lot of people find themselves wondering how they can be able to tell whether or not their sports autographed memorabilia is authentic. The bad news is that it is hard to simply know. Unless you managed to see the actual athlete autograph the item with your very own eyes, then you really cannot ever be 100% certain. However, it is important to know with sports autographed memorabilia that there are certain steps that can be taken to try and make sure that you are purchasing only authentic pieces of sports autographed memorabilia.

First and foremost, determine who actually authenticated the piece in question. Who was the original authenticator? If there is no type of written guarantee associated with the authenticity of the piece of sports autographed memorabilia, then do not buy it under any circumstances.

First and foremost, you are going to want to find sports autographed memorabilia that has been authenticated by a company that is reputable. If the certificate of authenticity comes from a reputable firm such as Tri Star, Upper Deck, Steiner Sports or even Mounted Memories, then you are almost certainly dealing with an autographed piece of memorabilia that is actually authentic. These are companies that have contracts with athletes, and they bring the athletes in to have the items autographed personally.

There is another company to look out for, which is Online COA. This is a third party company handling authentications. They personally witness every single autograph that they give an authentication to. They are there for authenticating more than for buying and selling pieces of sports autographed memorabilia, so you can rely on their authentications since they are not in it for the money but simply want to make sure that your sports autographed memorabilia is legitimate.

Something else to look out for is whether or not there is a money back guarantee for the sports autographed memorabilia that you buy. The company or the dealer that is selling the piece of sports autographed memorabilia to you should be willing to provide you with a money back guarantee should you find that the piece is not actually real.

Next, you should be willing to pay a little more for an authentic autograph when it comes to sports autographed memorabilia. If you find something for really cheap on eBay, then the autograph is probably fraudulent. You are going to find cheap sports autographed memorabilia out there, but there’s no telling if its real or not. Real, authentic autographs are actually worth something and the dealers selling them know it. You need to be aware of this too in order to make sure that you only buy authentic, legitimate sports autographed memorabilia.

Photo credits: The U.S. Army

Originally posted 2009-10-23 03:24:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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