Certificate of authenticity for art: what to include, with a template

What is a certificate of authenticity for art?

A certificate of authenticity, often shortened to COA, is a document in which the artist confirms that a particular work was made by them. It describes the work precisely enough to identify it, and it carries the artist’s signature and the date.

Its value shows up later. When the work is insured, resold, lent to an exhibition or inherited, someone will ask how they know it is genuine. A certificate issued by the artist at the first sale is the simplest answer, and it is where the work’s documented history begins.

Do artists need to provide a certificate of authenticity?

For a unique original there is usually no law that says you must. It is still good practice to give one with every sale: it costs almost nothing, buyers increasingly expect it, and it shows that you keep records.

It matters most when:

• the work is one of an edition, such as a print, a photograph or a cast sculpture;
• the work is sold online or through a third party, and the buyer never meets you;
• the work is not signed on the front, or not signed at all;
• the price is high enough that the buyer will insure it.

Editions are also where the law sometimes steps in. California, for example, requires art dealers to supply a certificate with specified details when they sell multiples (Civil Code sections 1740 to 1745.5). Rules differ between states and countries, so check what applies where you sell.

What should a certificate of authenticity include?

Everything on the certificate should match the work and your inventory record exactly. A certificate that says 24 × 36 inches for a work that measures 24 × 30 creates the doubt it was meant to remove.

Two optional lines are worth adding. Say where the work itself is signed (“signed and dated on the back”). And note that copyright stays with you: in most countries, selling a work does not transfer the right to reproduce it unless you agree to that in writing.

What does a certificate of authenticity template look like?

Copy this wording into a document, fill in the brackets, add a photograph of the work, print it on good paper and sign it by hand.

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

Artist:         [Your name]
Title:          [Title of the work]
Year:           [Year completed]
Medium:         [Materials and support]
Dimensions:     [Height × width × depth, with unit]
Edition:        [Unique work]
Inventory no.:  [Your number for this work]

[Photograph of the work]

I, [your name], certify that the work described above is an
original work of art created by me. It is signed [where and
how the work is signed].

Copyright in this work remains with the artist.

Signed: ______________________    Date: ______________

[City] · [Website or email]

For a print or another edition, replace the edition line and the statement with:

Edition:        [3] of an edition of [10], plus [2] artist’s proofs
Printed:        [Process, paper, and who printed it, with the year]

I, [your name], certify that this is an original [print /
photograph / cast] made from my work, numbered [3/10] and signed
by me. The edition is limited to [10] plus [2] artist’s proofs,
and no further copies of this image will be made in this size
and medium.

How is a certificate for a print or edition different?

With a unique work the certificate confirms who made it. With an edition it also has to say how many exist, because that is part of what the buyer is paying for.

• Edition size and number. The number on the certificate must match the number written on the print.
• Proofs. State how many artist’s proofs or printer’s proofs exist outside the numbered edition.
• How it was made. The process, the paper or material, who printed or cast it, and when.
• The limit. A sentence promising that the edition will not be extended in that size and medium.
• Open editions. If there is no limit, say “open edition” plainly. Do not number it.

Keep a list of each edition with the number, buyer and date of every print sold. It is the only way to answer the question collectors ask most about editions: how many are left.

How do you issue certificates and keep track of them?

1. Use your inventory number. It links the certificate to the work’s record, and it gives every certificate a unique reference.
2. Print it and sign it by hand. One page, on paper heavy enough to last.
3. Hand it over when the work is paid for. A certificate should travel with the work, not ahead of it.
4. Keep a copy. Scan or photograph the signed certificate and store it with the work’s record.
5. Record the sale. Note the buyer, the date and the price next to the work, so you know who holds the certificate.
6. Issue only one. If it is lost, make a replacement that says it is a replacement, with the new date.

Some artists add an embossed stamp or a pair of matching numbered labels, one on the certificate and one on the back of the work. These help, but what gives a certificate its weight is that you can confirm it from your own records years later.

ArtieDB is art inventory software and a portfolio website for working artists. It holds what a certificate is drawn from and checked against: each work’s inventory number, title, year, medium, dimensions, edition and images, and each sale with its date, price and buyer. It prints a certificate from that record, ready for you to sign by hand, and keeps a scan of the signed one with the work.

What is the difference between a certificate of authenticity and provenance?

The two are related and often confused. A certificate is one document. Provenance is the whole history of the work.

A certificate starts the provenance; it does not replace it. An invoice, a record of each consignment and a list of exhibitions do as much to establish a work’s history as the certificate does, which is another reason to keep all of them together.