ty cobb ball on ebay
 

I am not trying to start a war for questioning something but, I was always under the impression that Goldsmith and Macgregor combined names on their baseball equpt. following the end of WWII. I have collected Goldsmith items and to my knowledge I haven't ever seen a Macgregor Goldsmith as early as 1943, thats because they didnt exist. Goldsmith was producing baseballs under their name only at that point in time. Upon closer examination the date on the ball is 1948 which puts it into the correct time period for a MacGoldsmith ball. I have to question how in depth the examination of items could be when an error like this occurs and is misdated on the certificate provided as well. If they truely did think the ball said 43 then I worry about items that are in my collection and were authenticated by this company.
http://cgi.ebay.com/TY-COBB-SINGLE-S...item2c5a9a98d5

I think it's reasonable that a company that authenticates baseball autographs should know when certain baseballs were produced, but I don't think there is any question that this signed ball is legit considering the accompanying provenance.