When the dies were lubricated with "grease" some of that may work onto the die faces. It may take a while for the strikes to force the grease and in the mean time some of the design elements will not receive a full strike and appear blurry or even missing.
When the die are wiped clean during a check at the mint, that grease gets pushed deeper into the dies. The grease prevents the normal forming of certain devices and they can be blocked out. The term is one used often, but I prefer the correct term. Struck through error. (grease)
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