2026-S Polly Cooper Proof

San Francisco's 2026 Polly Cooper proof gives the closing reverse of the Native American $1 program its highest-fidelity treatment in the year of the United States Semiquincentennial. The reverse, designed by Artistic Infusion Program artist Beth Zaiken and sculpted by Medallic Artist Craig Campbell, depicts Polly Cooper, an Oneida woman of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, holding a basket of white corn beside General George Washington, who lifts his hat in gratitude. The scene references a documented Valley Forge episode: in the winter of 1777-1778 Cooper traveled with Chief Skenandoah and Han Yerry from Oneida country to the Continental Army camp with corn, then taught soldiers the boiling and lye treatment Iroquois white corn requires. The proof finish, struck twice from polished dies on a manganese-brass clad planchet, brings the basket weave, the folds of Cooper's clothing, and the deeply incused 250 numeral on the obverse Liberty Bell privy mark forward in a way the business-strike issues cannot match.

What collectors look for on this proof centers on cameo contrast and on the uniformity of finish across the new privy-mark obverse. Cameo, the strong contrast between mirrored fields and frosted devices, is standard on modern San Francisco proofs; Deep Cameo at PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and Ultra Cameo at NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company, designate the heaviest frost on the central elements. PR69 and PR70 will dominate certified populations once submissions accumulate. The Liberty Bell privy mark is a fresh device with no production history, so light hairlines or weakness on the 250 numeral will be the first thing graders look at on early submissions.

Inside the collecting landscape today, the 2026-S is the final proof in the rotating-reverse program and the proof carrying the 250th-anniversary privy mark, two angles the rest of the Native American proof run does not offer. Mintage will be reported by the Mint after the production cycle closes; the figure is not yet finalized, and orders for the dedicated Native American $1 Coin Proof Set are running ahead of recent years. Set-completion buyers need the issue, and Semiquincentennial-themed collectors are pulling proof examples for the privy-mark sub-set. For the program's reverse-rotation framework and the wider series context, see the Sacagawea Dollar series history.