Trimmed? Yes or No?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1909-T206-Piedmont-Tobacco-WILLIE-KEELER-HOF-w-bat_W0QQitemZ320439906920QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Baseball?hash=item4a9bb4f268

I need this card and the seller guarantees it's unaltered but it looks funny to me. What do you think?

Tough call, It does throw some question up and at that price I would pass.

Lee

This is a tremendous card. I have one in lesser shape. The colors blast at you. This example however, is guaranteed by the seller as untrimmed (reportedly). Therefore, have it encapsulated for verification, and your concerns go away along with those of the guarantor.
Really it is mainly the right lower corner in question, and your scan presents this corner most unclearly.
Gil

I say trimmed

Jay

I think it might be trimmed too and although the seller guarantees otherwise, to me it's just not worth the time (and potential hassle) to work out a deal regarding a refund if it comes back trimmed after I submit it. I'll just have to wait for another one.

Someone here could just sell me one

I think trimmed as well. For a Piedmont top to bottom looks to narrow. I understand that some cards can be OC, but the bottom isn't nearly long enough to have that short of a top.

Okay...I'll play.

I say not trimmed. For more than a few reasons.

Kevin

Would love to hear your reasons for no other reason than some education on what to look for.

Thanks.

Scott

Kevin, I'd love to hear the reasons too as I respect your opinion and would like to know what you are seeing that I am not.

Jay

Based on that scan alone, I can't form a definitive opinion either way. It doesn't scream "trimmed" to me. The fat bottom border compensates for the thin top one, and I don't see any jaggedness to the top edge (maybe a slight slant cut, which doesn't necessarily mean trimmed).

The seller's feedback is encouraging, but considering the BIN price is no steal, you might want to just play it safe and wait for one you feel more comfortable with. Or just buy a graded one. It's not like it's a tough card to find.

This auction does have the "best offer" option available. Another avenue to take if you really like the card is to offer a price
you feel is more in line with the risk involved being it's a raw card. Who knows, he may just take it.

Tony A.

For many of the reasons "Fisherboy" brought up. It doesn't scream trimmed.

Here is my opinion based on the scan:

The borders are nice and big on all sides with the bottom compensating for the short top.

Trimmed cards are typically done to to improve the quality...this has nicely worn corners and some small edge stains and dings. Nothing really looks improved.

The frayed corners look very natural (tough to perfect after trimming)

No stray fibers or odd cut markings.

The biggest reason is the slant cut, both the bottom and top match nicely. Although it sounds like something that would be easy, it often will not match or one edge will be slanted and the other straight. For advanced card doctoring, to hide the cut, it would need to be reshaped and retoned. While reshaping, on a single side cut, it's hard to keep the slant exact. For some reason it always ends up straighter.

To me...it looks good. Who knows it may be cut to hell (LOL).

For fun, take an old (or new) card and try to add a natural looking stain or two and/or fray a couple corners while keeping (or making) it looked aged.

Kevin

Kevin makes great points. The biggest deterrent for me is the price with the card having a few red flags. With the Best offer, if you feel the card is unaltered just give the seller a price you are comfortable with.

Lee