1930-S Two Feather

1930-S                                     Two Feathers                               FS-401                            38455

I purchased this coin from a fellow buffalo nickel variety collector, attributed and raw. It is now graded VF35 and attributed Two Feathers by PCGS. I also own a raw 1930-S 2F grading about VF and another also about VF, except for the environmental damage and cleaning I believe all three coins were struck using the same pair of dies.

The 1930-S Two Feather is a pure 2F, no trace of the third feather remains.

Die 1. Coin 1. 1930-S 2F PCGS VF35. The mint did a thorough job removing the third feather with moderate vertical abrasion lines. There are no wipe lines either on the obverse or the reverse. The mint did a very thorough job removing a likely die clash under the chin and leaving a somewhat irregular appearance.

There is a corresponding EPU die clash on the reverse with the clash running under PLURIBUS and then up through the L.

Die 1. Coin 2. 1930-S 2F raw VF. Very similar to Coin 1. The third feather has been removed leaving vertical abrasion lines. The lower edge of the chin is irregular but fairly well defined. And EPU has a similar die clash.

My third coin has no distinct differences from the other two above.

What to look for.

This is a relatively difficult 2F to find with the missing feather being the primary evidence.