I'm going through my 219d and 220s looking for caps and have come across this flaw on a rather ordinary looking stamp. Is this a known flaw on the right hand side 2, a plating error, or just an under inked stamp.
To be more clear I've attached an image of how the number 2 should look (image on the right). The flaw is the line that divides the bottom half of the number 2 to the top half.
I'm not sure what it is either. This is the same stamp with caps on the 2's. It looks like was intentionally placed there, but I don't know. I received about 1000 stamps of this issue in a collection I bought. Of the 1000 there were 7-8 cap on left 2, 2 with caps on both 2's, and 20-30 with this malformed 2. Some of the stamps are more pronounced than the one you show. I doubt it is rare. This issue is still ripe for exploring. It is a common issue with many still in the marketplace.
I agree with smauggie that this is probably a worn plate. The lack of definition of the ornaments around the denomination and the shading lines under the denomination are consistent with plate wear.
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