Memorabilia provenance authentication

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention for the track, categorize, or authenticate the provenance of historical artifacts. The invention couples an artifact to at least one unique identifier. Unique identifiers may be attached to or be contained within an artifact. Unique identifiers are coupled to a data storage archive where historical information relating to the artifact are stored. In certain embodiments the data storage archive is a database or relational database. Artifacts incorporated into the invention, may be objects used in sports, be objects used in politics, or may be personal objects. The invention tracks the use of artifacts and records historical information corresponding to the artifact in the data storage archive. Historical information recorded may include the time, or place where an artifact was used. The invention, in certain embodiments also tracks the use of the movement of an artifact, tracks who interacted with the artifact, and provides a mechanism for collectors to review historical information corresponding to one or more particular artifacts.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for brokering one or more artifacts having historical provenance, the method comprising:
 storing historical information corresponding to one or more uniquely identified artifacts in a database; and   offering terms for acquiring ownership of the at least one of the one or more uniquely identified artifacts, wherein the value of the at least one or more uniquely identified artifacts correlates to the extent of the historical information in the database.   
     
     
         2 . The method of claim  16 , further comprising updating the historical information in the database corresponding to one or more artifacts after a sensor senses the presence of the one or more artifacts in a location by sensing an identifier of the one or more artifacts. 
     
     
         3 . The method of claim  21 , wherein the historical information updated in the database includes at least one of the time, date, a time of interest, and the location of the one or more artifacts. 
     
     
         4 . The method of claim  21 , further comprising updating the historical information in the database after a second sensor senses the presence of the one or more artifacts in a second location. 
     
     
         5 . The method of claim  21 , further comprising copying ancillary historical information to the database, wherein the ancillary historical information corresponds to the location of the one or more artifacts at a time when the one or more artifacts were used. 
     
     
         6 . The method of claim  24 , wherein the ancillary information includes footing of an event. 
     
     
         7 . The method of claim  21 , further comprising:
 determining that a first of the one or more artifacts and a second of the one or more artifacts were used at the same time at an event; and   updating the historical information in the database with the determination that the first and second of the one or more artifacts were used at the same time at a location corresponding to the location.   
     
     
         8 . The method of claim  16 , wherein the historical information includes at least one of the presence of a public figure at an event associated with the one or more artifacts, authentication information associated with the one or more artifacts, information regarding an identifier that uniquely identifies the one or more artifacts, information collected by a sensor sensing the one or more artifacts, and ancillary information collected from other sources corresponding to the one or more artifacts.