A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is a signed document issued by you, the artist, that confirms a specific artwork is genuine and made by you. It is your own signed statement accompanying the work, not an independent assessment by a third party. For contemporary artists it is a foundational sales and archive record. A good COA includes the title, year, medium, dimensions, edition details where relevant, a unique catalogue or inventory number, an image of the work and your signature. Buyers, galleries and future resellers rely on it as the artist's written account of the work, which is why it supports provenance and long-term value. Keep a copy in your digital archive alongside the artwork documentation, and issue the original to the collector at the point of sale. For what a certificate should contain, see how certificates of authenticity work for original artwork; for how authentication differs from a certificate, see authenticating artwork. Pair it with a sales invoice and high-quality images so the work can always be identified and traced back to you.
Certificate of Authenticity
A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is a signed document issued by you, the artist, that confirms a specific artwork is genuine and made by you. It is your own signed statement accompanying the work, not an independent assessment by a third party. For contemporary artists it is a foundational sales and archive record. A good COA includes the title, year, medium, dimensions, edition details where relevant, a unique catalogue or inventory number, an image of the work and your signature. Buyers, galleries and future resellers rely on it as the artist's written account of the work, which is why it supports provenance and long-term value. Keep a copy in your digital archive alongside the artwork documentation, and issue the original to the collector at the point of sale. Pair it with a sales invoice and high-quality images so the work can always be identified and traced back to you.