1918 Two Feathers

1918                                          Two Feathers                             FS-401                    38445

I purchased the above coin raw and unattributed on eBay. It is now graded VF25 and attributed Two Feathers variety by PCGS. I own a second 1918 2F attributed by PCGS and graded F12. I can not determine definitively whether these two coins were minted from the same or different dies.

The 1918 Two Feather can be a pure 2F as this example shows.

Die 1. 1918 2F, VF25. At high magnification you can see abrasion lines running roughly North East to South West with no trace of the third feather. Although less prominent, there are parallel abrasion line over most of the obverse so these are wipe lines.

The reverse has a die clash running through EPU. The vertical segment is above the P. The wipe lines are faint and run North West to South East.

Die 2. 1918 2F, F12. This is the later die state of the two coins. At high magnification you can see no trace of the third feather. The part of the neck near the missing third feather also has been weakened and is less distinct. The abrasion lines running roughly East West appear to be on top of other abrasions lines running roughly North West to South East, similar to on Die 1. In fact, “Die 2” could be just a later die state of “Die 1” after an additional die clash or two and abrasive cleanup. The abrasion lines are wipe lines, being present over most of the obverse.

The reverse has a die clash running through EPU that has been almost abraded away. The “vertical” segment runs from below the base of the L to the West arm of the U to the E. The wipe lines are visible in the images above and run roughly East to West on the reverse. As befits a later die state coin, the letters in EPU are not in high relief and are a bit deformed (compare to the VF25 coin).

What to look for.

The missing third feather is the primary and only significant feature to look for.