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Message:: [QUOTE="physics-fan3.14, post: 3959549, member: 19165"]I usually don't comment much before the grade is posted, but I have to here. "Bag Marks" are indistinguishable from "contact marks". You'll here them described in various ways based on their severity: "tick marks" "whispy marks" "lines in the fields" "hits"... etc. Any mark, gouge, hit, ding, tick, etc..... they will detract from the grade, but will not turn an MS coin into a circulated coin. "Wear" is visible removal of metal from the high points or open fields. This most often comes from circulation (fingers rubbing against it, riding in a pocket, sliding on a counter, etc), but could also come from rubbing against a velvet pad in a coin cabinet. The most common sign of "wear" or a "rub" will be a disturbance in the luster. The luster will seem to "break" over the rubbed/worn spot. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "friction." Most types of friction will produce wear, and will make a coin circulated. However, one coin rubbing against another may produce shiny spots due to metal movement, but not actually appear as wear. This would be akin to contact marks between one coin and another. If a coin displays wear, it is circulated and tops out at AU-58. If it displays contact marks (from handling, from hitting other coins in the disposal chute at the mint, etc), then it is technically uncirculated but will drop in grade.[/QUOTE]