This is a vintage Figure-eight Baseball dating from circa 1870. This is an extraordinary top-quality baseball memorabilia from the dawn of professional baseball. This baseball is one evolutionary step away from the "lemon peel" style that dominated the game of baseball until this point in time. Early nineteenth-century baseballs of this quality are rare and often difficult to date with precise accuracy.

Dark leather was used for the cover because it was readily available and easier for the players to see when the ball was hit in the air on a clear day. In fact, famed baseball writer Henry Chadwick advocated using a dark red leather base ball as late as 1875 and stated so in the 1875 DeWitt's Baseball Umpire's Guide. White baseballs were later introduced (1861) because most ball fields at the time had heavily wooded area back drops, and it was easier to see the white ball.

Below is another example of a ball a little more beat up.