Those are all very fair points. I agree we'll never know, and I suspect you are probably correct that the remaining balls are more likely to have come from an official game rather than a commercial purchase.
I also agree that it is strange that there is less writing over where you would expect to find the presidential stamp on the ball in the Huggins & Scott auction. However, if you look closely, there is some faint writing across where the stamp would have been (perhaps a signature?). Also, in looking at my own ball, I find it hard to believe that the presidential stamp would have worn off of the Baltimore ball given how crisp the other stamps are, and how little wear the ball has overall. Again, though, we'll never know for sure.
Does anyone know if there were differences between the Federal League balls produced by Victor for commercial sale versus those produced for official game use?
Also, I'm really curious to know how many Federal League balls exist in total. In addition to the three links I provided in the initial post, the only others I've found records for on the Internet are these:
http://sports.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7051&lotNo=82067
http://www.huntauctions.com/LIVE/ima...=275&lot_qual=
I suspect a few more exist (I've heard rumor of an unopened FL ball), but would be curious to know if anyone else is in possession of one not accounted for in the various links in this thread.
Thanks!