How Gauntlet Gallery Authenticates
The industry's top authentication bodies do their job. Then we do ours. Every piece in our catalog passes an independent Gauntlet review — on top of whatever third-party certification it already carries.
Third-party cert is the baseline, not the finish line
Every piece must carry Beckett, JSA, PSA, Zarelli, or OneCOA documentation matched to its category. That certificate is the starting point — our review is what happens next.
We examine every piece ourselves — independently
Our team reviews provenance, substrate, signature, and condition independent of the third-party cert. Anything inconsistent stops the piece from moving forward.
Pass or reject. No gray area, no exceptions
A piece meets our standard or goes back to the seller — no caveats, no grading on a curve. What you see here passed.
A blockchain certificate that can't be altered — by anyone
Passing pieces receive a TrueCOA minted on Polygon — unique serial, full provenance, high-res photos. Verify anytime at truecoa.com.
Full Authenticity Guarantee
If you ever receive a piece you believe to be inauthentic, we conduct a full re-examination alongside a qualified third-party authenticator — and guarantee complete compensation if it fails the authentication criteria on which it was sold. No runaround. No fine print.
Verified By
The authenticators we trust.
Gold standard for signed memorabilia — every autograph we carry in music and entertainment is Beckett-certified.
Verify
The preferred autograph authority for the music industry — trusted by artists, estates, and major auction houses.
Verify
The world's largest third-party grading service — 50+ million items certified and trusted by every major auction house.
Verify
Definitive authority on NASA and Apollo-era artifacts — if it flew in space and we carry it, Zarelli certified it first.
Verify
Our blockchain-anchored certificate — tamper-proof, publicly verifiable on Polygon, permanent. Scan and check anytime.
Verify
Artist-endorsed blockchain provenance for fine art and collectibles — used by galleries and institutions worldwide.
Verify
The gold standard for signed memorabilia — trusted by every major auction house on earth.
Beckett Authentication Services (BAS) was founded in 1984 as a trading-card price guide. By the early 2000s it had become the industry's most-trusted autograph authentication body. Today Beckett handles millions of authentication submissions annually and is the first name auction houses, dealers, and estate representatives call when a signature needs a definitive ruling.
-
Signature comparison database Beckett maintains the largest proprietary database of verified signature exemplars in the world — examiners compare every submission against thousands of known-good references for each signer.
-
Tamper-evident hologram Each certified item receives a unique, serialized holographic label. The sticker number ties to a permanent record verifiable at beckett.com/auth/ — a counterfeit cannot duplicate the hologram or the database entry behind it.
-
Letter of Authenticity Every certified piece ships with a BAS LOA that includes the signer's name, item description, certificate number, and examiner grade — a permanent provenance document for resale and insurance.
-
Accepted by all major platforms Christie's, Sotheby's, Heritage Auctions, and eBay's authentication program all recognize Beckett certification. A BAS cert transfers value at every downstream touchpoint.
What Gauntlet Gallery requires
- Original BAS certificate — no photocopies, no scans as primary documentation
- Hologram on the physical piece, matching the cert serial number exactly
- Grade of Authentic or higher — we do not list pieces with conditional or inconclusive rulings
- Cert verifiable at beckett.com/auth/ before the listing goes live
Gauntlet Gallery categories
The authentication firm built on music-industry relationships — artists, estates, and labels trust JSA first.
James Spence Authentication was founded in 2005 after James Spence spent years as one of the most recognized autograph authenticators in the hobby. JSA built its reputation specifically in the music and entertainment space — a category where Beckett focuses on sports and cards. JSA examiners maintain personal contact with artists and their management to build the most accurate music-signature databases available anywhere.
-
Music-specialist examiners JSA employs examiners with decades of focus on music and entertainment signatures — the depth of their reference database in this category is unmatched and updated continuously as artists sign in new contexts.
-
Full certification documents Every certified item receives a JSA Letter of Authenticity and a tamper-evident holographic sticker with a unique serial number traceable at jsa.cc — the two-document package is industry standard for resale.
-
Preferred by auction houses Heritage Auctions, Julien's Auctions, and RR Auction — the three dominant music-memorabilia sale platforms — all reference JSA certification in catalog descriptions as a primary trust signal.
-
Real-time online lookup Every JSA serial number is queryable at jsa.cc within moments of certification — buyers can verify independently without contacting anyone.
What Gauntlet Gallery requires
- Original JSA Letter of Authenticity — not a digital copy as sole documentation
- JSA hologram on the physical item, serial matching the LOA
- Full authentication (not witnessed-signature cert) — the examiner must have inspected the signature
- Online verification passing at jsa.cc before listing
Gauntlet Gallery categories
The world's largest third-party authentication and grading service — 50 million certified items and counting.
Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) was founded in 1991 and is operated by Collectors Universe. PSA revolutionized the collectibles industry by introducing an impartial, standardized grading scale that allowed objects to be traded confidently by buyers who had never seen them in person. Its DNA division expanded into autograph authentication and is now one of the three most-cited certifiers for signed collectibles globally.
-
10-point grading standard PSA's 1–10 scale (MT 10 = Mint, GD 2 = Good) is the industry reference for condition. A one-point grade difference can represent a 20–200% price swing depending on the item and population data.
-
Population Report PSA publishes a live Population Report showing how many of every item have been graded and at what grade — the definitive condition-scarcity reference for collectors and resellers pricing their holdings.
-
Slabbed encapsulation Graded items are sealed in a tamper-evident hard plastic slab with grade and cert number embedded — it protects condition, prevents substitution, and permanently records the identity of the object.
-
Universal acceptance eBay's Authentication Guarantee, every major auction house, and virtually all serious collector communities accept PSA as the benchmark for condition and authenticity claims.
What Gauntlet Gallery requires
- PSA slab or PSA/DNA Letter of Authenticity for signed items
- Cert number verifiable at psacard.com/cert/ before listing
- For graded cards: PSA grade of 7 or higher (Near Mint or better) for standard listings — lower grades disclosed explicitly
- No cracks, breaks, or evidence of slab tampering — we inspect every slabbed item on receipt
Gauntlet Gallery categories
The only authority specifically examining NASA and Apollo-era space artifacts — no other firm comes close.
Robert Zarelli has spent decades building the definitive reference library for NASA, Apollo, and space-program artifacts. His authentication practice is the recognized standard for anything that flew, was carried aboard, or was used in American human spaceflight. Zarelli has worked directly with NASA astronauts, their estates, and major auction houses to authenticate some of the most historically significant space artifacts ever offered for sale.
-
Provenance chain verification Space artifacts require an unbroken chain of custody from NASA or astronaut origin through every subsequent transfer. Zarelli traces each item to verify the provenance has not been manufactured or altered at any point.
-
Materials and condition examination Genuine space hardware has specific material signatures — alloy compositions, manufacturing marks, part numbers, and aging patterns that cannot be replicated. Zarelli's physical examination goes well beyond paperwork.
-
Astronaut signature cross-reference For signed space items, Zarelli cross-references against his proprietary astronaut signature database — built over decades of direct contact with crew members, families, and estates — to rule out common forgeries.
-
Accepted by elite auction houses RR Auction, Heritage Auctions, and Christie's Science and Natural History sales all reference Zarelli certification in lots containing NASA and space memorabilia. It is the non-negotiable credential in this category.
What Gauntlet Gallery requires
- Zarelli Letter of Authenticity — original physical document, not a photocopy as sole provenance
- Full provenance chain from NASA or astronaut origin to current seller, with no unexplained gaps
- Where applicable: PSA/DNA signature authentication for signed space pieces — both certs required
- No items whose provenance relies solely on dealer word without documentation — zero exceptions in this category
Gauntlet Gallery categories
A permanent, tamper-proof certificate on the Polygon blockchain — verifiable by anyone, anywhere, forever.
TrueCOA is Gauntlet Gallery's own blockchain Certificate of Authenticity system, built to add a permanent, independently-verifiable layer on top of traditional third-party certifications. Every piece we sell receives a TrueCOA minted on the Polygon network — a public blockchain that permanently records the item's provenance, photographs, and chain of ownership. The certificate cannot be altered, deleted, or faked — the blockchain record is its own proof.
-
On-chain immutability Once minted, a TrueCOA record cannot be altered by Gauntlet Gallery, by the buyer, or by any third party. The Polygon blockchain is a decentralized public ledger — no central authority can change or delete an entry.
-
High-resolution photographic archive Every TrueCOA includes high-resolution photographs of the front, back, signature, and certification labels — permanently linked to the token so the record describes an irreplaceable specific object, not a general description.
-
QR code on every certificate Each TrueCOA prints with a QR code resolving to the on-chain record — any buyer, future reseller, or insurance assessor can scan and verify in seconds without contacting anyone.
-
Works alongside third-party certs TrueCOA does not replace Beckett, JSA, PSA, or Zarelli — it records that certification and the Gauntlet review on the blockchain. You receive both the traditional document and the digital record.
How to verify your TrueCOA
- Scan the QR code on your physical certificate — it links directly to the on-chain record
- Visit truecoa.com and enter your certificate code to view full provenance, photos, and blockchain transaction hash
- Look up the Polygon contract directly at polygonscan.com for raw on-chain verification without our website
- Email hi@gauntlet.gallery if your code does not resolve — we trace the record manually within one business day
Gauntlet Gallery categories
Artist-endorsed blockchain provenance for fine art — used by galleries and cultural institutions worldwide since 2015.
Verisart was founded in 2015 as one of the first platforms to bring blockchain-verified provenance to the fine art market. Unlike TrueCOA — which is our own certificate system — Verisart is an independent third-party platform used by artists themselves to certify and register their work. When an artist registers a piece with Verisart, the record is signed by the artist's identity and anchored to the Bitcoin or Ethereum blockchain, creating an artist-controlled provenance trail.
-
Artist-signed identity verification Verisart certificates are linked to the artist's verified identity — the record shows who registered it, when, and with what credentials. An artist registering their own work carries different weight than a dealer asserting authenticity.
-
Bitcoin and Ethereum anchored Verisart anchors certificate hashes to Bitcoin's blockchain — the most established and tamper-resistant ledger in existence — in addition to Ethereum, creating a multi-chain redundant provenance record.
-
Transferable certificate Verisart certificates are designed to transfer with the work — when a collector resells a Verisart-certified piece, the new owner can claim the certificate on the platform, creating a continuous on-chain ownership record.
-
Gallery and institution trust Verisart is used by Sotheby's Metaverse, Christie's, and institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art — it has achieved the institutional validation that most blockchain art platforms have not.
What Gauntlet Gallery requires
- Verisart certificate registered by the artist or the artist's authorized estate/studio — not a third-party registration
- Verifiable at verisart.com/verify before the listing goes live
- Certificate photo records must match the actual physical piece — we cross-check dimensions, medium, and condition
- For Death NYC works: Verisart is used alongside the artist-signed COA and gold embossed seal — both are required
Gauntlet Gallery categories