I don't know about MM locations on the 1909-S, but I do know on the 1908-S there are several different MM locations as they were hand punched. I would assume the same case for the 1909-S.
I send him possible varieties all the time, and he only charges $4 for attribution. Send him an email, he could tell you if its real or not.
Thanks, you can see a pic in my set here if you like: http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/alltimeset.aspx?s=49767
I am with Marshall. Two reverse dies were used on the 09 S. The S is in the same position on each die and only one style of mm was used. May be it is the photo but the mm on the coin in question appears to too low.
OK, Both my 1909-S Indina cents are on the way to NGC. One "if real" should grade XF the other should grade F. I will report back when I get them and include photo's.
AND the verdict back from NGC is.............................................................."1909-S Indian 1C Not encapsulated altered mintmark" Rat doo doo. So it looks like those of you that looked at it and said "real" were right. It is a real 1909. But those of you who said "fake" were right, because the mint mark was added. I am not a happy camper. I bought this a long time ago and have no record of which dealer to take it back to. This was a HARD lesson to learn. I thought I knew what I was doing and learned the hard way. I will admit I am curious as to how and when it was made and if there is any interesting story behind it other than got taken. Who knows, maybe the dealer didn't know either. Thanks to all who took a look. PS anyone know anyone who collects high quality fakes??? pps, one small bright spot. the other 1909-S Indian I sent in to NGC came back VF-20 BN. I thought is was on the high end of Fine so at least my XF/VF collection is not empty that slot.
Sorry for the report. I know it is little consolation, but in the long run, this might turn out to be a cheaper lesson than you think. During the time from purchase to questioning, you evidently learned a lot, and now you will probably be pretty safe from falling for another. Altered is altered, and if sometime in the future you or your heirs decided to sell, the news would be the same, so that is done. But now you can increase your knowledge and be more assured that you are buying and getting the real thing ( and to keep good records until you are sure Jim