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Message:: [QUOTE="The_Cave_Troll, post: 70570, member: 1674"]Actually, the dies are identical except for the date and the mintmark.  In 1909 the dies were made from the master hub and then the date was added.  After the addition of the date, the MM was added to each individual die.  The punch used to add the "S" to the dies was the same for each of the San Francisco dies so when we say the size and shape are correct we are just confirming that that particular "S" was made with the correct punching tool.  After confirmation of the MM style then we look for location.  Since this location is acceptable then we begin to look to see if that "S" was chiselled off of another San Francisco minted cent and then attatched to this coin.  That is where the concern about the discoloration cones into play.  The discoloration we are talking about is the slightly darker section below the MM that is about the width of the MM.  It could be dried glue/epoxy residue.  That is why I wouldn't buy this coin unless I could examine it in my hand with a loupe.  That way I could look at how the MM is "attached" to the coin.  If there is a seam, it is obviously altered; but a genuine MM sort of "explodes out" of the surface of a coin; you'd recognize it if you saw it under a loupe, it would just look "right".[/QUOTE]