1917 Two Feather

1917                                           Two Feathers                               FS-401                           38440

I purchased the above coin raw and unattributed on eBay. It is now graded XF40 and attributed Two Feathers variety by PCGS. I have a second coin in about the same grade which PCGS attributed but considered Genuine, 92 = Cleaned. It does have a bit of unusual “glow” to it ): The two coins were struck from different dies.

The 1917 Two Feather can be a pure 2F. For at least one pair of abraded dies, the third feather is completely missing. My “Genuine” 1917 2F is such a coin. The XF 40 coin has a small faint trace of a feather.

Die 1. For the PCGS graded coin, at high magnification you can see traces of the original feather, odd shaped, touching the long feather. There are no apparent abrasion lines in the area although that may be because of the relatively strong wipe lines. The wipe lines are a little more vertical than typical, running NNW to SSE on the obverse and NNE to SSW on the reverse. The obverse has a barely noticeable EPU die clash under the chin with the neck and chin still being relatively well-defined. The wipe lines are evident in the area beneath the chin and in front of the neck.

The reverse has been abraded to create a partially broken back in the area of the EPU.  Note the distance between EPU and the buffalo’s back as well as the depression. The reverse is also slightly rotated with respect to the obverse.

Die 2. The ungraded 1917 2F has no trace of the third feather with strong abrasion lines running roughly parallel to the long feather. It has no noticeable wipe lines. There is a die clash in the neck area under the chin resulting in a rough looking broken neck.

On the reverse in the area of EPU there are some horizontal die abrasions lines, but the buffalo’s back  is relatively intact with only a small broken spot on the back. There is a thin die crack from the buffalo’s back to near his head.

What to look for

Besides the missing third feather, the clues are dependent on the die used to strike the coin.

Die 1. If there appears to be only a trace of the missing feather, then the presence of strong wipe lines and a significant broken back might serve as confirmation.

Die 2. If the coin appears to have no trace of the feather, then you probably don’t need much confirmation. However, just in case, the strong abrasion lines in the area of the missing feather and the broken neck might provide some confirmation.