1937 Gordon Towers - How would you grade this note?

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

It seems from some of the posts I've read today that the cutting on 1937 notes was not always precise.

Could I get a grading opinion on the 1937 $5 banknote image attached? 

I've owned this note for several years and I purchased it before Choice and Gem UNC where published by Charlton.  It was probably graded AU+ when I bought it.  The note is uncirculated, crisp and clean with no folds, creases, blemishes or discolouration.

My dilemma is how to grade the note based on the uneven cut of the lower border of the note.  Based on my research so far it seems possible that this is the way the note left BABN.   Has anyone seen this type of uneven cut before?

My guess is that the condition is better than VF or EF and at least AU or better.

I'm an honest person and the last thing I want to do is misrepresent a banknote's condition.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

It looks trimmed along the bottom.

It looks trimmed along the bottom.

Maybe or maybe not.  I've seen plenty of 37 notes like yours (front un-centered) with the back well centred.  I believe the best way to tell whether it has been trimmed is to take another note (preferably with same prefix of the SN) and see how it matches or measures up (although this is not definitive either since there may be small variation from one note to the other).    The better the width matches the less likely there's been a trim to the bottom. 

Update:
Sorry, I just took a 2nd look and now I see how the border does taper a little upwards on each side which does look suspicious.  If you match your note with another note this uneven cut might jump out at you quite dramatically.

I also doubt the note would be AU or UNC since there appears to have been minor mishandling or small, very fine wrinkles which appear to have been flattened out.  You can tell if you hold your note up to a light source and look at the back paper where the serial numbers were printed to see whether there is any embossing or slight indentations where the numbers were printed.   I may be wrong because I'm only going by your scan- but when I look at the image- it appears as if the note is flattened with no natural waves, ripples, embossing.  This suggests the note was pressed to appear to be in a higher grade so it would likely be EF if that were the case.

When I first saw this I said trimmed as well.  Trimmed bills are the only thing that ticks me off more than pen marks. 

However, I just looked at all my 1937 bills and there are some interesting things going on with the bottom front margin on a lot of them.  These are not trimmed bills and I have not consumed anything unusual tonight.  I'd never really looked closely before, but things are not totally squared up.

I do truly appreciate your comments.

I have seen some 1937 notes on CPM and eBay that look similar on the bottom border, and when the overall condition of this note is taken into consideration I can't see any obvious reason for anyone to trim this note.

Another observation is that if trimmed with a scissor action there should be some jagged interruptions along the border and indication of a pinch type of cut with the edge folded either slightly up or down but there is neither in this case.

Also, I think it would be very difficult to make this cut with a razor or similar tool.  It would be almost impossible to make a long, straight cut without wandering off line and having to start again.  And how could the cut start without the note folding up in the direction of the cut?  I certainly couldn't do it.

I can't see an evidence of it being pressed, there is embossing but it is not a heavy embossment.

Here's a high res scan that might help.

I'm stumped and that's why I appreciate your opinions.