I hate baseballs like this. I am not happy at all with the characteristics of the signature. That said, I am very impressed with the baseball itself. It is an old ball, and certainly looks like it was shellacked a very long time ago--it takes a long time for shellac to yellow like that, I believe. Could it be a very old forgery? I doubt it. Ruth's autograph was just not very valuable then. And, while we have examples of secretarially signed balls--we know the patterns--I am not aware of any truly old forgeries.
So, I am unable to render an opinion.
But, I would not buy the ball.
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