Altered Mint Mark?

['ol dollar]

I need opinions on whether this "S" mint mark on a Morgan dollar is an altered "O" mint mark or if it is a legit "S" mint mark. Thanks in advance for your help.

[MarkFeld]

Welcome to the forum.

It might help to see an obverse image/know the date of the coin.

['ol dollar]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that this is an 1888 Morgan.

[MarkFeld]

I would err on the side of caution and avoid it.

[WoodenJefferson]

95% sure it's a 'S' worn by circulation or obliterated by an impact.

['ol dollar]

Thank you guys for the valued opinions. I had already purchased the coin, but the ebay photo of the reverse was not clear enough to see the issues with the mint mark. I just wanted to be sure I was getting what I paid for without causing too many problems for the seller. Thanks again for your help.

[coinman1794]

The coin is well-worn with a number of surface marks. This distortion could easily be minor damage. I would return or quickly sell it, if I acquired it, because it is not very desirable as such.

['ol dollar]

Thanks for the advice. I decided to return the coin because I didn't want to own or sell a coin in this condition.

[USAuPzlBxBob]

I sort of like the coin.  It has an old look to it, as though it spent its time doing what coins were meant to do: get used.

But I didn't like the mint mark so obliterated, and therefore I would have returned the coin too, just for that reason alone.

For my small US gold type set collection, one of its sub-goals is having at least one mint mark from each of the available mints.

As such, I want mint marks to be clearly discernible so that there would never be any doubt as to which mints they represent.

['ol dollar]

I like circulated coins too because of their "story" and I don't mind a worn mint mark, but this one was too crushed.

[PerryHall]

Definitely an S mintmark.  There is nothing wrong with this mintmark since this "S" is typical of the blocky style used during this era.  The normal wear makes it more blobby looking which is quite normal.