Can you clarify your distinction between "mold" and "die", Gene? To me they are the same thing, unless you are calling the "die" the piece of metal that is initially produced by hand from which multiple molds are produced. If that were the case, polishing the "die" would result in shiny chip surfaces, not shiny device surfaces.

We are not talking about hot-stamping dies here, are we? They would have no effect on the molded chip surface.