[MattyC]

Good question, Peter-- I had the same question myself years ago about a similar card, and asked PSA. They explained to me that with handcut cards, they will give an AUTH designation if either:

A) The card is not cut to what they deem proper specs; i.e., the card has a wavy edge, or is not square.

Or...

B) The card has wear that brings eye appeal to a level where they feel uncomfortable giving it a numerical grade of 1. This is of course the more subjective way a handcut card becomes relegated AUTH, and if someone has a handcut card that was deemed AUTH for this reason, and they feel it merits a numerical grade, they should definitely try reviewing it.

As a former player Registry set collector, there are often handcut cards that become extremely tough-- and guys will seek out guys who are expert at cutting a card square and within spec, as one false move can ruin a tough handcut issue. I wrecked a very rare Don Mattingly handcut card once that way. I cut within a black border and it came back AUTH; I asked why, and learned that their spec for the card was that it should include the border that I had cut away. I then face-palmed myself for not learning the TPG-accepted spec for the card before I broke out my ruler and stanley knife.