Certificates & provenance

Certificates of Authenticity (COAs) are tamper-evident records that link an artwork to its creator and provenance history.

Certificate types

Type	Description
COA (Certificate of Authenticity)	Issued by the artist or authorized party
CoS (Certificate of Show)	Documents exhibition history

Issuing a certificate

Open an artwork from your collection.
Complete provenance fields (title, medium, dimensions, creation date).
Navigate to the certificate page (/artworks/[id]/certificate).
Follow the issuance flow — Provenance generates a unique certificate number and QR code.

Once issued, the certificate gets a public URL that anyone can scan or visit.

QR codes

Each certificate includes a QR code that links to the public certificate page. Print QR codes from the bulk provenance editor (/artworks/edit-provenance) for labels, catalogs, or physical certificates.

Scan tracking

When someone scans a certificate QR code, Provenance logs the scan location (with consent) and displays a map on the certificate page. Artists can see scan analytics from the certificate view.

Claiming certificates

If you received a certificate link or invite:

Visit /claim/certificate with your claim token.
Sign in or create an account.
The certificate is linked to your collection.

Gallery owners can send owner invites from the COA page to transfer or assign ownership.

Provenance research

Collectors can request provenance research from a certificate page. This notifies the artist or platform team to investigate and enrich the provenance record.

Verification API

Developers can programmatically verify assets via the Verification API. API keys are issued from the admin panel at /admin/api-keys.