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Message:: [QUOTE="Insider, post: 2397116, member: 24314"]Just a slight clarification ... [USER=26030]@WingedLiberty[/USER] this is for you.  Perhaps I should have put it in a PM to avoid the excuse of semantics.  Professional graders use the word "skin" to describe the natural film that develops on a coin's surface over time.  This film can be natural or artificial (altered surface).  A Morgan dollar that drops from the press HAS NO SKIN.  A St. Gaudens has NO SKIN ether.  None on nickels, dimes, quarters, or cents when they are minted. Natural "skin" develops over time.  It even happens in U.S. Mint packaging! "Skin" has NOTHING to do with a coin's mint luster.  Natural "skin" can be found on MINT STATE coins, CIRCULATED coins, DIPPED coins, and CLEANED coins.  Remember, it develops over time and depends on the environment.  "Skin" is very delicate until it sets. Coin doctors regularly put "skin" on coins to hide hairlines, marks, and high point friction.  Gold coins with "skin" are especially desirable.  That's why they are altered using various substances.  Check out the "bluish" gold coins in TPGS slabs for one type of artificial "skin."[/QUOTE]