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1. The UACC is the Universal Autograph Collectors Club and is the USA professional body for Registered Autograph Dealers, AFTAL is the European equivalent.
2.
What are they?
>>A "Certificate of Authenticity" is a made up "Certificate" issued with an autograph by some sellers that is supposed to confirm a signature is genuine.
Can I rely on them?
>>No.
Why not?
>>ANYONE can issue COA, if someone is selling forgeries they have no problem issuing bogus COA's which have no force of Law.
Why do we issue them?
>>People believe they are needed so - we use the COA number as a database reference (see FAQ number 3) so the exercise is not a complete waste of time.
3. Every autograph Movie Autographs Worldwide handles is allocated a reference number, this appears on the autographed item, tax invoice and COA (see FAQ number 2).
Each reference number has a record in our database holding as much information as possible about an autograph such as :
>>Who from, where and when the autograph was obtained
>>Where and when the autograph was signed
>>Who to and when the autograph was sold
Signing details (not always available for older items) appear on the tax invoice, COA and rear of autograph where they can safely appear on the rear.
4. There are LOADS of fakes out there. In the legitimate autograph community it is estimated that up to 90% of autographs in circulation are FAKES, Sport is by far the larger contributor to this.
5. Yes, there are a very small number of these people around :
>>Respected Auction houses employ such persons to validate autographs and perform a nominal valuation on the understanding they charge for the service as part of selling fees, offering no guaranteed sale price.
>>Some AFTAL and UACC Dealers value and validate collections for a fee - usually a minimum of around £20.
It's likely you'll come across sellers who claim to use American and DNA authentication companies. These "authentication firms" are not approved, their opinion (which they charge handsomely for) has no value or significance whatsoever.
6. Look for the clues :
Accredited
>>Sellers should be accredited by one of the Professional bodies (UACC or AFTAL) and will be listed on their websites if they are.
Reputation
>>This is critical, look at Collecting Forums, dirty Sellers are always a topic of conversation.
Length of Time
>>If a Seller has been in the Business for a long time that is a good indication.
Visibility
>>A Seller should provide their full Contact details, not a PO BOX number or “private feedback”
Silly Stories
>>Be very wary of big stories about someone’s great aunt's sisters cousin's dog dying and suddenly finding rare autographs…….the Seller with the entire cast of a major film obtained in person, on a garage door sized poster, all in the same pen, perfectly signed with no creases on…..
7. In terms of getting your money back, if you procured from the sort of person who pops up on auction sites with especially cheap deals, who had little in the way of Contact details….it is unlikely.
If you paid by credit card relatively recently and spent a fair amount (more than the cost to authenticate) you can arrange a charge dispute and you may send the autographs to an Authenticator to support the chargeback.
We also recommend :
Reporting the Seller to your Local Police Authority, Trading Standards Office, Tax Department, UACC, AFTAL, the site moderators on the site you bought from and make it your business to add them to the dirty Seller lists on as many Collecting Forums as possible.
Whilst the recommendations are not guaranteed to get your cash back, they will provide the right organisations with more evidence against serial criminals with a view to Prosecuton and will prevent others from getting stung by the same Seller if they read one of your complaints - so, you’ll at least feel better.
8. They :
>>Audit stock that Registered Dealers Sell to ensure it’s authenticity
>>Offer Training and advice in the area of autographs.
>>Provide professional authentication services to Law Enforcement bodies in Foregery cases.
>>Investigate cases where Forgery is suspected.
Most importantly, they provide assurance for Collectors who procure from Registered Dealers :
>>Both Organisations have a Ethics code Dealers and Members are bound to abide by.
>>Issues such as Customer Service or Stock Authenticity can be reported to the Organisations.
>>If the issue was serious, the Dealer would be suspended and investigated.
>>Investigation could result in loss of Registered Dealer status and removal from the Organisations.
>>Both Organisations work closely with Law Enforcement Authorities on matters concerning Forgery, a serious problem will result in prosecution.
9.
No
>>But, if you are new to Collecting, we highly recommend using Registered Dealers as sadly Autograph Collecting can be dangerous and expensive to the novice.
Why
>>Because of the constant threat of Forged and Faked items.
And
>>Registered Dealers are moderated by their Professional Organisations (UACC and AFTAL), providing Assurance of Authenticity, knowledge, experience, good reputation and education to a new Collector.
Seasoned Collectors, once they have built up a wealth of knowledge are much less at risk, indeed, some become Professional themselves and in turn help keep others safe !
10.Fundamentally this is built up by experience, over time you find out who commonly used Secretarial and Autopen signatures, where to go to get valid source reference material…..
As a starter :
>>Registered Dealers are mines of knowledge, some specialising in particular fields.
>>Collector Forums are great for sharing information.
>>AFTAL runs Authentication training courses.
>>The UACC runs the Pen & Quill Magazine with heaps of useful articles.
>>Compare Registered Dealer autographs with cheap Forgeries on Online Auctions.
>>Buy some Autograph Collecting, Price Guides and Graphology books to read.
11. Well, lets take the example of two pictures, same person signing:
Picture 1 This is the stars most famous picture, it is a really good-looking shot of them and they have a clean signature in a good spot in a complementary marker.
Picture 2 This is one of the stars lesser known movies, not a fantastic shot and the picture is a bit gloomy, the signature has also been written in a dark pen so is difficult to make out and they have managed to get the signature slap bang over their face, extending to the white bit at the edge of the picture.
Mmm, picture number 1 is the better one and is more sought after, work the maths!......BUT, there are exceptions, you could have a not brilliant (but very rare) signature, due to it's scarcity it is worth it's weight in gold.
There can be somewhat of a black art in valuing autographs, but in the end it comes down to a combination of knowledge and experience of the trader. Certain images, documents etc signed by a person command a premium over others.
12.The best autographs for investment are ones where:
- The authenticity of the signature can be validated when put to the test (state the obvious)
- It is a rare and sought after signature. Or, group of related autographs, that as a whole are sought after...Star Wars Cast for example ££££
- If the signature is on a picture/document that is from a prominent film or event or perhaps an item of particular interest or historical significance
- It is in good condition, picture not dog eared or scratched or a well preserved document or card with low fading or acid seepage etc.
- The location of the signature is appropriate (the person has not signed upside down or on a silly place on the item)
- It is a clean signature (the pen is not running out, the colour of pen used suits the picture/item etc)
13.
As per our Terms and Conditions, we provide a guarantee based on the UK Trading Standard Recommendation, covering things like cancellation and damage in transit.
In addition, as Registered Autograph Dealers, we also provide a guarantee for the lifetime of the Customer concerning each and every autograph authenticity - providing the Customer can prove they are who they say they are (ID) and the autograph condition has not materially deteriorated since the accepted sale completion date (UK Law definition).
We do not require the details of sale as we retain that along with a scan of every single item we have ever handled.
14. No, when you come to pay you can choose to either:
- Pay online using your credit card with our secure, encrypted online website facility or choose the Paypal option
- Contact us and give us your card details to process (NOTE - NEVER SEND YOUR CREDIT CARD DETAILS ON AN E-MAIL OR BY POST) we cannot guarantee its security by this means. But telephone is fine !
- Send us a cheque or Postal Order (if you do this please send us an e-mail or call us to let us now you want to do this and we will hold the item for 5 working days). If payment is not received by then we will release from hold status.
We can also handle payment from any currency - we offer an option for you to use a currency converter on our site to calculate the value of your order in popular customer currencies.
15. The largest threat to the industry if the fake market, it is big money and genuine Dealers are constantly educating people.
It is often long after a person who has spent a substantial sum of money on fakes that they approach a Dealer for a valuation and find out what they have bought is worthless, by which time the cowboy is long gone.
This clearly affects confidence in the industry, but, as people learn these lessons, and Professional Organisations continue to promote the good guys, slowly, the tide will turn.
>>The UACC and AFTAL work with Law Enforcement and have successfully prosecuted some of the larger perpetrators, and continue to work in this area - some Dealers having even received death threats for standing up in court providing opinions and evidence such are the stakes.
>>Larger online auctions also take steps now due to the number of complaints they receive to remove the people trading fakes, although this is a slow process and difficult as these people use different aliases etc……
>>Auction houses employ specialist valuers in order to prevent the recirculation of forgeries into the public domain and safeguard their business.
Regardless, GENUINE autographs are and always will be collectable items, increasingly viewed as solid investments.
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