1921-S Two Feather

1921-S                                        Two Feathers                             FS-401                    38452

I purchased the above coin unattributed in a PCGS holder on eBay. It is graded F15 and now attributed Two Feathers variety by PCGS. I also own a 1921-S 2F, grading Fine but that PCGS labeled Genuine (damaged), likely because of the laminations and some marks.  I believe the coins were struck from different pairs of dies.

The 1921-S Two Feather often is a true 2F with no trace of a third feather. Both of these coins are true 2Fs. Pope reports that there are at least two different 2F dies for the 1921-S, one of which is also missing the designer initial F – a 1921-S Two Feathers, No F variety.

Die 1. Coin 1. 1921-S 2F PCGS F15. The mint did a thorough job removing the third feather.  The abrasion lines are very fine and light with some running parallel to and others perpendicular to the long feather. The Mint was a little over zealous in the area of the third feather. It weakened the top of the neck so that the neck appears to have been straightened! The added white line indicates the normal curve of neck. The unusual straightness of the neck line may be more apparent in the full image of the coin above. If you tilt the coin just right you can see some remnants of a die clash beneath the area of the missing feather. These clash marks may have been left behind from the clash that resulted in abrading away the third feather or it may have been from a second later clash. What may be wipe lines run roughly east-west but are very patchy.

On the obverse a front of the neck die clash was cleaned up resulting in a very ill-defined, fuzzy appearance for most of the neck line. In addition, the initial F also is almost entirely removed and what remains is wider than normal and very shallow. This coin likely is the 1921-S Two Feather, No F variety.

On the reverse, an EPU die clash was cleaned up very well. The corner of the clash may have been at the base of the P in PLURIBUS while the horizontal section runs through PLURIBUS. This is an unusually high location for the clash mark.

Die 2. Coin 1. 1921-S 2F PCGS Genuine. Again the mint did a good job of removing the third feather, but this time with no significant abrasion lines left behind. There also are no apparent wipe lines.

On the obverse there is an ill-defined area where the front of the neck and jaw line meet, likely the result of cleaning up a die clash. The initial F is present but it is distorted and wider than normal. It likely also had been involved in a die clash or two.

On the reverse there is a corresponding cleaned up EPU die clash, leaving a very weak and fuzzy EPU. The vertical section of the clash appears to run between the P and L of PLURIBUS while the horizontal section runs just beneath PLURIBUS.

What to look for.

The missing third feather is the primary and only significant feature to look for. Given the thoroughness of the abrading it should be relatively easy to spot.