Not sure why I didn't see this last November. I assume it had something to do with covid. Congratulations on a nice looking 1949-S!!!
1954-S is the easiest date to notice right away for the series. It has such a distinctive soft strike. One of my favorite dates in the series and yours is a real blazer!
Its like the mint only had a couple of dies for the entire year's production...severe die decomposition is most common in the 54-s.
Finally dragged mine out for pictures. Not sure how I ended up with two 1949-D. 1958-61 were LCS purchases around 1973, $1.50 each.