How to verify a COA

1. Identify who issued it

Read the name on the certificate, sticker or hologram. eBay advises buyers that COAs and LOAs are only as valuable as the reputation of whoever issued them ^[1].

2. Check the issuer against public lists

eBay publishes a list of people and organizations whose COAs and LOAs are not allowed on its site ^[1]. The FBI's Operation Bullpen found that forgers commonly used COAs to make fake signatures look genuine ^[2].

3. Run the official lookup

Most large programs offer a lookup by certification or hologram number, including PSA ^[3], JSA ^[4], Upper Deck ^[5] and Fanatics ^[6]. Use the issuer's own website, not a link in a listing. Our directory links to each official lookup we found.

4. Compare the record with the item

PSA warns that verifying a number "does not eliminate risk", because criminals sometimes copy real certification numbers from public sources ^[3]. Check the photo, signer and item type in the record against the item in front of you.

5. If the lookup returns nothing

A missing record isn't automatically a bad sign. Upper Deck says items from before 2002 and many show-signed items aren't in its online database ^[7], and JSA has said new certifications can take weeks to post ^[8]. Contact the issuer directly.