meaning of Skimmed / Trimmed?

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Posted By: BillyB 

I've seen the terms skimmed and trimmed a lot in posts.
What does that mean?
Are they done to reprints or originals or both?
Thanks

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Posted By: Paul

A trimmed card is one that has had one or more of its edges (borders) cut off partially or completely. Sometimes, this was done by collectors many years ago to fit the card into a smaller frame or for reasons that you can only imagine. Sometimes, modern unscrupulous collectors and dealers will trim a very small amount off of one edge in an effort to make the corners appear sharper, passing off a lower condition card as a higher one. Trimmed cards are worth significantly less than untrimmed cards.

Never heard of skimmed, but a skinned card is one that has had its back removed. This most commonly occurs with the Old Judge cards from the 1880s. Skinned cards are also worth significantly less than complete cards, though I suspect that a skinned Old Judge probably retains more of its value than a skinned Topps card.

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Posted By: hankron

TRIMMED means one or more edge of the card has been cut (by scissors, razor blade, other). In some cases the trimming is obvious-- an edge hacked at a goofy angle. In some cases the trimming is hard to detect. In some cases trimming is intentional in order to artificially raise the grade. Trimming damages and, thus, lowers the card's value-- which is why trimming should always be disclosed.

The much rarer SKINNED card is where the face layer of the card has been ripped from the rest of the card-- like pulling the skin from from a baked chicken. That Old Judge Ward you bid on was skinned, with the photograhic print pulled from the heavier cardboard backing. Most skinned cards are photographic cards like the Old Judges, though some mechanically printed cards like the T206s or T205s can be found skinned.

Unlike some trimming, there's rarely subtlty about a skinned card-- most of the card is missing! Though when a rare blank backed T206 appears in auction, there will be wondering if the card is really blank back or skinned.

Skinning makes a card grade Poor or worse. However, with rare and/or desirable cards, like that N172 Ward, the skin can still have some value.

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Posted By: hankron

Paul beat me to it. As I hate to feel redundant, I add that the Old Judges are not like modern cards. They consist of a paper photograph pasted to a piece of blank cardboard. The missing cardboard was only there as a backing. So the skinned John Ward Old Judge photo could be pasted to new piece of cardboard ('rebacked').

Ordinarilly, collectors stear well clear of skinned cards, unless they are N172 Wards, Four Base Hits or such.

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Posted By: AdamBaxter

BillyB,

The two previous posts offer the hobby's definition of trimmed/skinned. The official PRO grading definition for trimmed is "Mint"

Regards,
Adam