Peter Clark wrote:

I believe they'd also go as far as to point out that there are other
certificates (a-la pilots, medical) which must also be carried per
61.3. 61.3(a)(1) deals with the pilot certificate, and nowhere there
does it say it must be original, but it is implied by coupling it in
paragraph (2) with a Government-issued photo ID.

This matter came under discussion at a Wings meeting. The inspector giving the
lecture said that the FARs require that "this certificate" be carried, and that
means what it says. Only the original is legal. The topic under discussion was
pilots' certificates, not airworthiness certificates, but if the wording is the
same in the FARs, then I'd bet the FAA has the same interpretation.

George Patterson
We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop
playing.