Obvious benefits of papering your Artifacts include preservation of vital information about the piece, additional resale value in the near term and a greater appreciation factor for the long term.  Knowing that the pieces in your collection are authentic also provides peace of mind.

My experience over the last few years indicates that there have been some serious problems with previous methods of documenting and papering artifacts.

The system I have developed  uses a database to store complete information on every paper that I issue.  My papers are printed on photo quality paper and a color photo of each artifact is printed directly on the paper.  The photo depicts the artifact in actual size, up to 8" long.  There are no drawings and no pictures glued to the paper.  This is important, because reproductions have been knapped to match the drawings on some papers and photos have been replaced on others.  Every paper I issue is coded with a unique number and any paper can be retrieved from my records and viewed, complete with photo.  I can even replace a lost paper by simply printing another.

I am developing a system to check a paper on the internet, to verify that it is an authentic certificate.  Yes, there are forgeries on the market.  This is not a system that displays a list of all certificates.  One must enter 3 vital pieces of information from the paper.  If this matches a paper in the system, it will be verified and can then be viewed.  This may be helpful to someone considering the purchase of an artifact with my paper.  Of course you can also call me to verify a paper.  I can pull up the information easily with a phone call and verify the information on one of my certificates.

My papers are printed on heavy 37 lb, 5 1/2" X 8 1/2" paper.  This makes them very easy and convenient to store in plastic half sheet protectors in a 3 ring binder.  Space is provided on the reverse side to add additional information and document subsequent owners.