What counts as a claim on a collectible?

Anything the price rests on that the item cannot prove by itself: the grade on a slab, the serial on a watch, the patch in a relic window, the signature, the odometer reading, the game an item was used in. Each is a statement somebody made at some time. The record names who, and when.

If only the maker can check it, what do I write down?

The date the check was run, the party that ran it, what it covered and what it returned, and a line saying the result cannot be repeated by a third party. That is an honest entry. A buyer later knows exactly what was checked and by whom, and what was not.

Who vouches for a patch on a relic card?

Often no one on record. CGC’s guarantee says it does not guarantee the authenticity of additive features, and its memorabilia label carries no guarantee of authenticity or grade. Unless the manufacturer or a named authenticator has put its name to the patch, the record says: no one on record.

Why is a car’s mileage a claim?

Under 49 CFR 580.17 older vehicles are exempt from the federal odometer disclosure, so a reading on such a car carries no required certification at sale. The number on the dial is a statement, backed by whatever paper surrounds it: service records, past titles, earlier sale listings. The record holds that paper, dated, and says the disclosure did not apply.

Does the free cert check tell me who vouched for the card?

It tells you what the grader recorded under the cert number, by linking to the grader’s own page, and whether the number sits on our loss register. That is the first kind of keeper. For the patch, the signature or where the card has been since, the check says nothing, and the guide on what a cert number proves lists why.

Is a test anyone can repeat better than a certificate?

It is different, not better. A certificate is one party’s statement; a weight or a measurement is a reading anyone can take again. The 1982-D Small Date cent in copper alloy is told from the common zinc cent by its mintmark, the style of its date and its weight, and NGC’s own article names the three. Where a physical test exists, record its reading and the instrument beside the certificate.

Guides · Method · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Who vouched for it? The four kinds of keeper behind a claim

Every claim on an item, a grade, a serial, a patch, a mileage, has a keeper or has none. Here are the four kinds, how to tell them apart, and what to write down for each before money moves.

By BSJ Ventures on the Brich House platform

The short answer

A collectible carries claims: a grade, a serial number, a game-used patch, an autograph, a mileage, a vintage. Each claim is vouched for by someone, or by no one. There are four kinds of keeper. A register anyone can read, such as a grader’s cert lookup. A register only its keeper can read, such as a maker’s archive. A witness at a moment, such as a league authenticator’s hologram. And no one on record. Beside the four sits something that is not a keeper at all: a test anyone can repeat, with a scale, a loupe or a camera.

The free check at brich.house/check works on the first kind: for a cert number it links to the grader’s own page, the record of what it graded, and shows whether the number sits on our loss register. The other kinds the check cannot read, and neither can any third party. The record you keep should say, for each claim, which kind of keeper stands behind it, when it was checked, and by whom.

The four kinds, and what to write down for each

01A register anyone can read. A grader’s cert lookup, a hologram database with a public search. Anyone with the number can read it. Write down the register, the number, the date you looked it up, what it returned, and whether the item in hand matched the images where the register shows them.
02A register only its keeper can read. A maker’s archive. Audemars Piguet’s own watchmakers check each pre-owned watch against the maker’s archive, a register no reseller can open. Write down the date, the party that ran the check, what it covered, and that no third party can repeat it. The check is real; so is the fact that only one party can run it.
03A witness at a moment. MLB’s authenticators witness an item in play, apply a hologram, and the hologram number opens the database entry. The entry says what was seen and on which date. It says nothing about the item after it left the building. Write down the hologram number, the entry as it reads, and the date.
04No one on record. A patch with no named authenticator. A signature with no witness. A mileage with no required disclosure. When no party has put its name to a claim, the record says so in those words, and a price paid on that claim is recorded as paid on an unvouched claim. A gap written down is honest; a gap filled in is not.
05The test anyone can repeat. Weight to a hundredth of a gram, dimensions, an odometer photographed beside the chassis plate, a photo match against the grader’s images. Record the reading and the instrument, and keep the photograph. Anyone can take the reading again and compare.
06Keep the terms with the item. For a card pulled on a platform or bought in a pack, the dated version of the terms that governed the sale: who was the merchant, who held the card, who set the buyback and how long the window ran. The party named in the terms is the party the contract is with, whatever door the buyer walked through.

What this check does not prove

That the slab in hand is the one graded. The lookup checks a number. A label can be printed to copy a real one, so the card, the label and any images on the record have to match the slab in front of you.
That a keeper’s word settles the claim. A register says what its keeper recorded; a witness says what was seen on a date. Neither sees the item today. The item in hand, set against the record, decides, and where a physical test exists it decides first.
Who holds the card now. A cert records the card and the grade on the day it was graded. It says nothing about who has held the card since, or how it got to the seller.
Ownership. A matching record does not show who owns the card or whether the seller can pass title to it. That is a question for the seller, in writing.
What the card is worth. A grade is not a price. The lookup says nothing about value, and neither does this guide.

Questions

What counts as a claim on a collectible?: Anything the price rests on that the item cannot prove by itself: the grade on a slab, the serial on a watch, the patch in a relic window, the signature, the odometer reading, the game an item was used in. Each is a statement somebody made at some time. The record names who, and when.
If only the maker can check it, what do I write down?: The date the check was run, the party that ran it, what it covered and what it returned, and a line saying the result cannot be repeated by a third party. That is an honest entry. A buyer later knows exactly what was checked and by whom, and what was not.
Who vouches for a patch on a relic card?: Often no one on record. CGC’s guarantee says it does not guarantee the authenticity of additive features, and its memorabilia label carries no guarantee of authenticity or grade. Unless the manufacturer or a named authenticator has put its name to the patch, the record says: no one on record.
Why is a car’s mileage a claim?: Under 49 CFR 580.17 older vehicles are exempt from the federal odometer disclosure, so a reading on such a car carries no required certification at sale. The number on the dial is a statement, backed by whatever paper surrounds it: service records, past titles, earlier sale listings. The record holds that paper, dated, and says the disclosure did not apply.
Does the free cert check tell me who vouched for the card?: It tells you what the grader recorded under the cert number, by linking to the grader’s own page, and whether the number sits on our loss register. That is the first kind of keeper. For the patch, the signature or where the card has been since, the check says nothing, and the guide on what a cert number proves lists why.
Is a test anyone can repeat better than a certificate?: It is different, not better. A certificate is one party’s statement; a weight or a measurement is a reading anyone can take again. The 1982-D Small Date cent in copper alloy is told from the common zinc cent by its mintmark, the style of its date and its weight, and NGC’s own article names the three. Where a physical test exists, record its reading and the instrument beside the certificate.

Free cert check

Check a PSA, CGC, Beckett, SGC or TAG cert.

Enter the number from the label. You see what our watch holds on it and get a link to the grader’s own record. No account.

Open the cert check

At the source

Each grader’s own cert lookup.

The grader’s page is its record of what it graded. Look the number up there yourself, not in a screenshot.

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