ACGcert is a Standard-tier third-party autograph authentication company, trading as Authenticate Certify Grade Limited (UK company number 16509460), that certifies signed football, sport, film, television and music memorabilia for collectors across the UK, Europe and worldwide. Its name states the job: Authenticate, Certify, Grade. It gives an independent authentication opinion on items it did not itself sign.
How ACGcert authenticates
ACGcert works by expert opinion. Founded by Mark Kirkup and run by authenticators each with over 25 years in the autograph and memorabilia trade, more than 150 years combined, it examines a signature's formation, flow, pressure, speed, pen movement and signing style against known authentic examples, judged within the real-world conditions the autograph was obtained, since a quick training-ground signature and a calm seated signing are both genuine yet differ by nature. Each item receives one of three verdicts: likely to pass, unlikely to pass, or inconclusive.
What you receive and how to verify it
Independent verification is the point: an approved item receives a secure QR-coded ACGcert hologram linked to an exact-item record in ACGcert's database, so a buyer can scan it and confirm that the specific hologram belongs to that specific piece at acgcert.com/lookup, without taking Walkouts' word for it. An official ACGcert Letter of Authenticity, plus encapsulation and grading, are available as further services.
Why this matters for collectors
For a collector, ACGcert's value is an independent third-party opinion on a signature, the right service when provenance rests on the autograph itself rather than on who organised the signing, backed by a per-item hologram a buyer can verify directly. Walkouts references ACGcert where that collector-grade independent opinion adds confidence to a piece, alongside the premium bureaus it uses first for the highest-value signed items.
