Authenticate a vintage baseball

[nyr1994]

I was was wondering if anyone out there knows anything about authenticating an old baseball.

Here's the story:

In 1990 I was doing a card show in Staten Island NY. An older man stopped by with a baseball that he said was his uncle's. The ball was painted or shellacked so you can't see any stamps or labels. What made us buy it was that he claimed it was a Babe Ruth Homerun ball from 1930.

Obviously I can't prove that part, it just makes it a fun story as we didn't pay a lot for the ball. It was actually wrapped in an old tobacco silk which had some real value at the time.

A short time after that I showed it to a few old timers at the East Coast National and none said they could age the ball. Keep in mind this is pre PSA.

I was wondering if with all the new technology since then if anyone has had a similar situation with aging a painted baseball.

I figured I try this forum first before I contact PSA and others.

Thanks for your time

Jim

[aelefson]

Hi-

The age of the ball looks to be circa 1910s-1930s based on the stitch coloring. I have no opinion on the Ruth connection. They used baseballs with that color stitching for 20+ years.

Alan