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Babe Ruth

My father passed and left me this signed ball. What is your opinion?

Tags: Babe, The

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 29, 2016 at 11:15am

Mark, I hate to say it but I don't think it's genuine. You'll get opinions from others, so hang in there.

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Permalink Reply by Travis Wallace on March 29, 2016 at 12:53pm

Poorly executed forgery, sorry.

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Permalink Reply by James on March 29, 2016 at 11:06pm

I agree. It's a forgery, IMO.

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Permalink Reply by Randy on March 31, 2016 at 2:38pm

I would do more research before playing catch with this one. I would not say it is authentic but it has some positive traits. Is that shellack over the signature or just toning? I can't tell from the picture.

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Permalink Reply by mark hersch on April 1, 2016 at 8:10am

The shellack is on the whole ball. Back in the day,I hear, that's the way people preserved those things. I also found this with my fathers things. I put it in a frame. Does this look like it's real? Thanks, Randy.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on April 1, 2016 at 8:22am

I don't think it's real, Mark, sorry. Before you get to the style of the autograph itself, notice that the ink and paper have no ageing at all. It looks like it could have been signed yesterday.

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Permalink Reply by mark hersch on April 1, 2016 at 9:10am

Believe me. It wasn't yesterday. My father kept it in a box in his closet along with his dog tags from the 2nd world war, discharge papers,marriage certificate etc. I quess since the early 40's. The items hadn't seen the light of till till my father passed in 2014. Thanks for getting back to me.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on April 1, 2016 at 12:47pm

It must have been hermetically sealed then, because it has zero ageing, which isn't possible any other way.

It looks very similar to the vintage baseball forgeries that have come out from so-called estate auction houses over recent years--down to the ink and paper used. And the autograph does not look signed by Babe Ruth in my opinion.

Are you sure your father didn't sell the other and buy this in recent years? The one you posted doesn't add up to me at all.