Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) is a third-party comic book grading company located in Sarasota, FL founded in 2000 and was the first company to bring this service to comic collectors. CGC’s 20 year history has established it as the “gold standard” comic grading company.

CGC’s “Signature Series” program provides authentication services that assures signatures obtained are 100% authentic by utilizing CGC Authorized Witnesses (CAW), who must be present at the time of signing. No other methods of authentication are acceptable when grading under CGC Signature Series.

CGC SIGNATURE SERIES CRITERIA
CGC Signature Series follows a strict set of guidelines that establishes whether or not a signature is considered authentic or not. Basically, a CGC Authorized Witness (CAW) must be present at the time of signing or when artwork/sketches are picked up.

These following scenarios do not satisfy CGC Signature Series’ criteria.
• “I took a photo of the artist signing my comic...”
• “The artist can confirm that he/she signed my comic a minute ago...”
• “I have this COA that came with the book that says the signature is authentic...”
• “Another grading company authenticated the signature on this book...”

At shows, a CAW may be summoned from the CGC booth if CGC is attending. Another option is to contact a CGC facilitator at the show to help you obtain a witnessed signature. A CGC Facilitator is an independent company that has been authorized by CGC to witness and obtain signatures following CGC’s witnessing guidelines. The facilitating company is not employed by CGC and is not affiliated with CGC other than obtaining facilitating status and witnessing capabilites by CGC.

All fees regarding facilitator service fees, pricing, artist signature, sketch pricing, etc is independent of CGC.

A CGC graded comic with properly witnessed signature will receive a yellow CGC Signature Series Label and the signature of the artist/writer/creator will be notated on the label along with the date of signing.

Unwitnessed signatures will not appear on the CGC Label. The customer will receive a green Qualified Grade Label. Green labels are usually given when unwitnessed signatures have been obtained, or if the book has a significant defect that requires a specific description, such as a missing page, missing value stamp or coupon.

If a book has witnessed and unwitnessed signatures, CGC will designate a Signature Series Qualified Label (Yellow label with green stripe). The properly witnessed signature(s) will be mentioned while the unwitnessed signature(s) will not be mentioned.

Other CGC labels exist and can be referred to in this link: https://www.cgccomics.com/comic-grading/labels/

MULTIPLE SIGNATURES AND ADDING SIGNATURES
Multiple signatures may be obtained from different shows/events. Previously the submission had a time limit of 30 days from the date of signature but CGC has changed their stance on that rule. Book(s) may be held by the facilitator longer than 30 days, but incur a fee of $5 per book for every 30 days after. Facilitators may charge additional storage/processing fees for extended holding. Book(s) must be submitted to CGC within 30 days from the date of the signature.

CGC Signature Series graded books may be “cracked out” to add signatures. KEEP IN MIND that only a CAW or CGC associate at the CGC booth may crack out a yellow label signature series graded book to maintain the authenticity of the signature. Failure to follow this procedure will result in voiding the authenticity of the signature.