1925-S Two Feather

1925-S                                        Two Feathers                             FS-401                    38455

I purchased this coin on Teletrade, graded AU53 by PCGS and unattributed. It is now attributed Two Feathers by PCGS and is the PCGS “pop top” with a population of 1 and 0 higher (pop 1/0). I also own a raw 1925-S grading about VF. I believe the coins were struck using the same obverse die.

The 1925-S Two Feather is a pure 2F, no trace of the third feather remains.  Pope reports two or likely three dies for this date.

Die 1. Coin 1. 1925-S 2F PCGS AU53. The mint did a thorough job removing the third feather with moderate visible abrasion lines running parallel to the long feather. There are no wipe lines either on the obverse or the reverse. The front of the neck has been abraded producing a broken neck. The mint did a very thorough job removing any die clash, lowering the die surface in front of the neck and consequently raising the level on the coin. The whole area is quite high with the neck area flowing smoothly into the field.

There is a corresponding EPU die clash on the reverse with abrading in the area resulting in a broken back for the buffalo. You can see the flow lines running off the buffalo’s broken back toward EPU.

Die 1. Coin 2. 1925-S 2F raw VF. Very similar to Coin 1. Although a later die state and not very visible in the image, there are abrasion lines running parallel to the long feather in the area where the third feather was removed. Again, there are no wipe lines, obverse or reverse. The front of the neck and the surrounding area have been heavily abraded. In these images, the flow lines are apparent indicating the relatively late state of the die. In addition, there is some mechanical doubling on the nose and upper lip. In spite of this mechanical doubling, this obverse die seems likely to be the same as for the first coin.

However, the reverse die likely is different. There is no EPU die clash or broken back. There are no apparent die cracks or die clashes on the reverse. While not produced by a new die, the reverse has fewer and smaller flow lines than the first coin, indicating a somewhat earlier die state.

What to look for.

This is not a particularly difficult 2F to find with the missing feather being the primary (and conclusive) evidence.