Offered here is a rare Eclipse Patent composite golf ball. Made by William Currie & Company, Eclipse Patent balls were produced under the third patent ever issued for a golf ball,  William Currie’s Dec 20, 1877 British Patent 4,838.  This patent covered including additives mixed into the gutta percha, such as ground cork, ground leather, vegetable fibers, etc.   Currie made slightly different Eclipse balls into the 1890s.  This particular ball was produced in 1889 per McGimpsey's Golf Ball Directory Folio 1. Ball show only light use and still has the large majority of its original paint.