This offering comes from the legendary treasure trove known as the "Cincinnati Reds Gift Shop." During the Big Red Machine era, they offered it right from the playing fields to local collectors in their very own "Gift Shop" inside Riverfront Stadium. The best part about it, EVERYTHING was authentic. Early to the hobby, local Cincinnati collectors patrolled this venue as if they were Jack Webb of Dragnet and these were the streets of Los Angeles. Some of the finest Tom Seaver, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Big Red Machine memorabilia in the hobby came from this very place. This Official National League (Feeney) ball emanates directly from the Reds Gift Shop, featuring simply the date "6/16/78" in black marker on the sweet spot as it should. The ball is accompanied by the Gift Shop's "Collectors' Certificate" (of authenticity) written in the hand of the proprietor. It is dated and inscribed, "6-16-78...Reds 4 - Cards 0...Seaver's No Hit Game." Interestingly, where the cert is permanently imprinted "only twenty being made available to collectors," they have crossed out the "twelve" and hand-printed "nineteen." As you can see these guys were sticklers for authenticity (as they should have been). From one of the pioneering programs of game used memorabilia being made available directly from a team, and along with it airtight provenance and authenticity.