I often field calls from individuals who have either purchased or inherited a piece of art. Sometimes, the individual believes they have a true gem on their hands because the art piece includes a “Certificate of Authenticity”.
Case in point, I just hung up the phone with a man who’d inherited an oil painting of a battleship, which included a Certificate of Authenticity. He believes it to be a truly valuable piece of art because of this, added to the fact that the deceased was incredibly rich.
1.) Rich people can make bad buying decisions. REALLY bad buying decisions.
2.) When asked if he knew the name of the artist, the caller stated he did not. I said it should be found on the certificate of authenticity. He read the (lengthy) certificate to me, and no where did it mention the a.) Name of the Artist, b.) Title of the Piece, c.) Year of Completion. Sounded like a blanket certificate that was mass produced to me…but I’m NOT an expert, I’ve just been in the business a while. I gave him the number to Hardy Halpern, in Atlanta, which is what I usually do with folks who are certain they have a valuable piece. Rod Hardy knows his trade, and I’m happy to send people his way.
But for those of you who’d like to know MORE about what makes a Certificate of Authenticity, well, authentic, then read on. I pulled the below text from the Art Business web-site (it’s a great site, and I encourage you to explore!)
http://www.artbusiness.com/certaut.html
(I added italics and underline)
…You really have to understand what a legitimate Certificate of Authenticity or COA consists of because plenty of problem COAs are floating around out there, especially at online auctions like eBay. Unless a certificate of authenticity originates from and is signed by either the artist who created the art, the publisher of the art (in the case of limited editions), a confirmed established dealer or agent of the artist (not a casual third party or reseller), or an acknowledged expert on the artist, that certificate is pretty much meaningless. A legitimate COA must contain specific details about the art such as what the medium is (painting, sculpture, digital print, etc.), the name of the artist or publisher (or both), the art’s exact title, dimensions, details of the edition size if it is a limited edition, and when applicable, the names of reference books or other resources that contain either specific or related information about either that work of art or the artist who produced it. The title and qualifications of the individual or entity that authored the certificate should also be included, as well as their contact information, and both contact information and qualifications must be verifiable.
A formal certificate of authenticity is not necessarily required to prove that a work of art is genuine. Any valid receipt, bill of sale, or proof of purchase either directly from the artist or from a confirmed and established dealer, reseller, publisher, or agent of the artist will do. An appraisal from a recognized authority on the artist which includes a statement or guarantee of authenticity is also acceptable. Whenever authenticity is at issue, only conclusive statements of authorship from QUALIFIED experts on the art or artist in question are acceptable, not informal statements, opinions or offhand price estimates from people who happen to buy or sell or appraise occasional works by the artist in question.
You can never be too careful here. Certificates of authenticity can be problematic; some are just plain worthless and some even fraudulent. Unfortunately, most people believe that art with a COA is automatically genuine, but that is absolutely not the case. To begin with, no laws govern who is or is not qualified to write certificates of authenticity except in rare instances. Nor is there any standardization with respect to what types of statements, information or documentation a COA must include. In other words, anyone can write a COA whether they’re qualified to or not. As if that’s not bad enough, unscrupulous sellers sometimes forge official looking certificates of authenticity and use them to either sell outright fakes or to misrepresent existing works of art as being more important or valuable than they actually are. And to make matters even worse, meaningless or bogus COA’s have been issued for decades, so don’t automatically assume that a COA dated 1955, for example, is genuine simply because it’s old.
–side note, if your certificate includes a misspelled word, it’s a fake or your artist didn’t use spell-check. If you purchase original artwork from a gallery or artist, you can request a certificate of authenticity as well. 
*if you’d like to contact Rod Hardy: http://www.hardyhalpern.com
*Ms. Wakefield once had a customer insistent about a Chagall sketch received from the royal family of Saudi Arabia was incredibly valuable and worth a sizable donation to a local non-profit. After a trip to Atlanta, Mr. Hardy verified that it was, indeed, a fake. An old fake, mind you, but still a fake. If you ever have any question about your inheritance, PLEASE take it to an expert appraiser–NOT your local antique dealer, not your local art dealer. Experts have the resources and training to identify and evaluate your property. If it’s truly valuable, having an expert validate the piece is advisable for both insurance and retail purposes.
*Ms. Wakefield also enjoys an occasional Antiques Roadshow with the fam.
Advice from the Curator's Desk 