[drcy]

I've thrown out cheap modern cards that were deceptively trimmed-- literally dropped them in the trash can. I've also sold more expensive trimmed old cards, while very clearly detailing with pictures the trimming.

I once had a Mint 9 graded 1970s Nolan Ryan card (grading company name withheld, though it was a big one) that was clearly and obviously trimmed on the bottom. A near first grade scissors cut! I sold it on eBay in the holder, and very clearly detailed the trimming. Included a big picture showing how the bottom was trimmed. Someone won it. Perhaps he was building a graded set.

So I have no set rule for selling trimmed cards-- other than, of course, good disclosure and candor at sale. My number one concern is that an innocent buyer down the road doesn't get burned. If a T206 Ty Cobb is soiled, mangled and hacked and sold on eBay as 'Grade Poor Minus Minus,' no one is going to get deceived about the grade. No one down the road is going to get fooled into thinking it's a Mint 9. However, if the card is deceptively trimmed and buffed to look like new, that's what concerns me.

I've seen many Pre War cards that, even if they weren't trimmed, they'd still grade a Poor Minus. I once had a grouping of 1933-5 Goudeys that I called the Devil's Coasters, because they looked as if the Devil had used them as coffee cup and beer coasters in Hell for 50 years. Stains, trimming, tape marks, writing, take your pick. I laugh now remembering them. Existential wear. Disclosure of trimming was a minor detail on a long checklist. The sad part is the Devil's Coasters collection included Ruth, Gehrig, Fox and more.