Sports Memorabilia Certificate of Authenticity – Is it Valuable?
The market for autographed sports memorabilia is massive. In 2007, the sports memorabilia industry took in an estimated $2 billion – and that number has grown even gaudier over the past three years. For collectors paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for sports memorabilia, an item’s authenticity is of primary concern. The industry’s leading autograph authenticator, PSA/DNA, recently claimed that only 33 percent of more than 10,000 Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan autographs it scrutinized were real – just one example of the ease to which non reputable sellers can slip fraudulent items into the market. In assigning the value of a sports memorabilia certificate of authenticity, some in the industry can’t help but think of the scene in Tommy Boy when Chris Farley’s character attempts to undermine a competitor’s written product guarantee: Tommy: Why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting. Here’s the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box ’cause he
