First thing on the 1896 S is to look in the ear. Die clash lines in the ear hole are a clear indicator that the coin is probably genuine, something like 80% of the population has them. Following that look at the position of the date and the mm. Only two die pairs were used. This is Die Pair 1. the 1 centered above a denticle and the 8 centered over the left side of a denticle. The MM is just above the R and the D and slightly closer to the D. I would have called this one XF40 details and either corrosion or environmental damage, but you always need to see a coin in hand. What looks like damage could be lighting effect, bad photography, bad image compression, etc. All of that being said I wouldn't turn it down.