Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Notarized Certificates of Authenticity Can Make Collectible Art and Sports Memorabilia More Valuable

If you are a collector of original art by a famous artist, or a collector of sports memorabilia, you would probably love to have a piece that was signed by the artist or athlete, right? There are many places that sell paintings or sculptures with Certificates of Authenticity. Some of those are even signed by the artist (I have one signed by Eyvind Earle, for some artwork that I bought a few years ago).

Think about this, though. It is really nice to have a signed Certificate of Authenticity by the artist. However, what proof do you have that the artist really signed it, and that it is not a fake?

Sometimes vendors of Sports Memorabilia present photographs to show that an athlete- a baseball player, for example, has signed a hat. They might even supply a Certificate of Authenticity for that. But again, you might still wonder if the athlete really signed the Certificate, and is what you see really the hat in the picture.

One way to absolutely know that a particular artist or athlete has signed a Certificate of Authenticity for a piece of artwork or sports memorabilia is to have the Certificate notarized by a credible, professional, trusted Notary Public. Hollywood Notary.Net offers this service to both amateur and professional artists and professional athletes who wish to create value for their clients by offering this valuable service.

Notarized Certificates of Authenticity can be of great value for several reasons. For one, the Notary affirms the identity of the person signing the certificate. The Notary must actually BE IN THE PRESENCE of the artist or athlete, and must communicate directly with that person. Secondly, there is a PUBLIC RECORD that the artist or athlete actually signed the Certificate, and this PUBLIC RECORD (which is recorded in the Notary Public's Journal in California) can be researched (in California, Notaries are required to turn in their Notary Journals to the County Clerk within 6 months after the end of an active Notary's commission). The artist or athlete's signature would be in the Notary Public's Journal (one entry for each Certificate signed). The content of the Certificate of Authenticity would be completely composed by the artist, athlete, or their lawyers or representatives, but the notarization would be according to California law.

If you are an artist and would like to discuss adding Notarized Certificates of Authenticity to your artistic repertoire, please call Notary Public David Ransom, owner of Hollywood Notary.Net, at (323)393-5822.

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