A system and associated methods for authenticating physical or digital objects are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, a plurality of authentication devices is initiated, with each of the authentication devices associated with a one of the objects and containing a unique authentication sequence algorithm used to generate a sequence of device sequence values stored on each said authentication device. Upon a user desiring to authenticate a given object via a user application on a user device, the authentication device provides a data set to an authentication server. If the authentication server locates the authentication device in an authentication table, and subsequently processes the data set successfully, the authentication server obtains from the authentication table a server sequence value associated with the authentication device. If the device sequence value is later in the sequence than the server sequence value, the authentication server transmits a success message to the user application.