Originally posted by skylen:
What is a Certificate of Authenticity? I've not heard of it before. |
In general it's a legal documenting a physical item, as described. It's part of maintaining a chain of custody or evidence; in the world of private sales it's referred-to as provenance.
It's a warrantee that the item you are buying is genuine as attested-to, and not altered, substituted, or forged.
If you are buying a Ming vase or a Renoir original, you want to know it's the real thing ...
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And now for the "real thing" from Dictionary.com:
prov·e·nance ( P ) Pronunciation Key (prv-nns, -näns)
n.
Place of origin; derivation.
Proof of authenticity or of past ownership. Used of art works and antiques.
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[French, from provenant, present participle of provenir, to originate, from Old French, from Latin prvenre : pr-, forth; see pro-1 + venre, to come; see gw- in Indo-European Roots.] |
