"What troubles me is the daylight gap from the top of the card to the bottom of the gasket. Unless it is a poorly cut gasket, I'd take that as evidence of card trimming."
I would agree, here is another 53 Topps and there is no gap on the top of the card.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1953-Topps-...kAAOSwjytaY-TA