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Posted By: Jay Miller

I think everyone has his/her own opinion on this one. Rebacking a card could be done to deceive but more likely than not it was done to preserve the card. Many Old Judge were pasted in scrapbooks during their period of issue. To keep the book from getting too thick the photo was removed from the cardboard backing(skinning) before it was glued onto the page. Years later when the skinned cards were removed from the albums they were very fragile. To preserve these photos from damage they were remounted on cardboard backings, either using the cardboard from much less valuable Old Judge actress cards or using other cardboard. These cards are certainly worth less than virgin cards but still comand value. A VG/EX common Old Judge card ,with a nice photo, that has been rebacked typically sells for about $100-$150. This is about half the price of a similar card with an original back.
Trimming a card is almost always done to deceive. The intent there is to raise the grade of the card similar to the trimming of any other issue. In my opinion such cards are much less desireable than the rebacked cards.