2004-S Proof

San Francisco struck 2,965,422 proof Sacagawea dollars in 2004, distributed primarily through that year's annual U.S. Mint Proof Set and the Silver Proof Set. The figure sits in the same band as the 2003-S (3,298,439) and 2005-S (3,344,679), so the 2004-S proof is not a standout on raw production. What gives the year its broader context is the matching 2,660,000 circulation mintage at Philadelphia and Denver, the lowest pre-NIFC figures in the program; collectors building proof-and-business-strike sets for 2004 are buying into the program's tightest production year. The obverse remained Glenna Goodacre's Sacagawea, the reverse Thomas D. Rogers Sr.'s Soaring Eagle, both holdovers from the 2000 launch and unchanged through 2008.

Strike quality on the 2004-S is the headline collector concern, and it is typically excellent. San Francisco proof production by this point in the series ran with consistent technique: deeply mirrored fields, frosted devices on Sacagawea's portrait and the eagle's body, and the strong contrast that earns the Deep Cameo designation, abbreviated DCAM by the grading services and meaning a heavy frost on the raised devices set against fully reflective fields. Hairlines from cleaning or careless handling are the recurring deduction below PR69; grading services regularly assign PR69 DCAM and PR70 DCAM to clean examples from original Mint packaging. No major die varieties are documented for the 2004-S proof.

The 2004-S proof carries a Regular classification, the standard for proof entries on this site, with rarity context conveyed in the prose rather than the badge. Singles and original Proof Sets trade modestly above issue price for clean PR69 DCAM material; the PR70 DCAM tier carries a meaningful premium where populations remain thin. The natural acquisition path is an intact 2004 Proof Set rather than a single-coin purchase. For program background and the 2009 transition to rotating Native American reverses, see the Sacagawea Dollar series history.