EXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB ORIGINAL-GUM EXAMPLE OF THE $2.00 TRANS-MISSISSIPPI ISSUE, WHICH IS GRADED XF-SUPERB 95 BY P.S.E.
All of the $2.00 Trans-Mississippi stamps were printed in a single day's run on June 3, 1898. The $2.00 was printed in sheets that have narrower spacing between the horizontal rows than between the vertical columns. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to obtain stamps with top and bottom margins that equal the sides. This stamp essentially achieves that unnatural effect, which could only occur when the horizontal perforations were applied in such a way that the holes impinged on the space allocated to the rows above and below.
With 2012 P.S.E. certificate (OGph, XF-Superb 95; SMQ $5,600.00). Only three have graded higher (all at 98).