What does COA mean on ebay?

Question

I was surfing ebay, and i kept seeing something called coa. The terms was mostly for athlete signatures on things. Like "Carmelo Anthony signed basketball with COA." I was just wondering wat coa meant.

Answer 1

Certificate of Authenticity.

Answer 2

It's Certificate of Authenticity. So it means the good is certified to be original

Answer 3

Does that come with a COA?

Its a question common to dealers.

By its very title, a 'Certificate of Authenticity' (COA) should prove authenticity, right? Many collectors, especially those new to the hobby, assume they do.

Truth be told, a COA is only as strong as the credibility of its issuer. Many dealers outright refuse them, and are insulted that a collector would be so naive as to demand a piece of paper to underwrite their reputation.

Unfortunately, this policy often results in a lost sale.

Of course, anyone with a computer and printer or even a nearby Kinko's can create a convincing COA. Forgers, in particular, must find it a simple exercise, and presumably are delighted that it often ices a sale.

DiMaggio and eBay

Consider the case of the "J. DiMaggio Company" COAs: first surfacing on eBay a few years ago, along with authentication by Don Frangipani, "FBI forensic expert," these certificates were most often seen with sports stars', Beatles', Neil Armstrong's, or any other big-name celebrity's autograph.

It reached a point where these "authentic" signatures were so obvious for what they really were -- forgeries -- that reputable dealers and experienced collectors alike pleaded for help from eBay. The online auction company responded with their standard "hands off, buyer beware" policies and threatened banishing any collector who complained.

The U.S. Government saw the problem a bit differently. The FBI's Operation Bullpen showed J. DiMaggio and Frangipani* would authenticate anything for a requisite fee, and indeed operated a large-spread and highly profitable forgery ring.

In response, eBay quickly instituted a policy of "no items with DiMaggio or Frangipani" COAs.

Ironically, before being pulled from the market, these certificates had come to serve their exact opposite -- identifying inauthentic autographs. No matter how convincing the signatures, if a DiMaggio or Frangipani COA was attached, the sale would go sour.