2010-S Yellowstone Proof

The 2010-S Yellowstone Proof is the second design in the inaugural year of San Francisco ATB proof production, a run anchored at 1,397,219 sets sold by the U.S. Mint and matching the print figure on every 2010 clad proof issue. Don Everhart's reverse renders Old Faithful in mid-eruption with a bison in the foreground, an unusually crowded composition for a quarter reverse that benefits from the deep relief polished proof dies deliver. Yellowstone was the obvious second pick after Hot Springs: the park was established March 1, 1872 under President Grant as the first national park anywhere in the world, so the series' opening two designs anchor the chronology of federal land protection in the United States.

Authentication on the issue starts with the S mintmark above Washington's head and the surface contrast that defines a modern proof. PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC apply two cameo designations that drive most of the market value: Cameo (CAM), strong mirror-to-frost contrast, and Deep Cameo (DCAM), where the frost on Old Faithful's plume and the bison's hair is heavy and the field mirror is unbroken. Yellowstone's busy reverse gives graders more device area than the Hot Springs design, which means strike detail in the bison's hump and shoulder hair and in the eruption plume's central column matter more than they do on simpler 2010 reverses. The clad composition (75% copper-nickel over a pure copper core, 5.67 grams, 24.26 mm) matches every Washington quarter struck since 1965, so counterfeit risk on the modern alloy is functionally zero.

As a collecting target, this is a Regular-classification issue available in PR69-DCAM across both major services and steadily supplied in PR70-DCAM at a meaningful premium. The pop reports for the date show standard 2010 distribution, with the real climb at PR70-DCAM rather than at the Deep Cameo break. Series builders typically source the issue out of intact 2010 Proof Sets or in PR69-DCAM slabs and reserve real money for the perfect grade. For the broader story of the ATB proof program and the series' production arc, see the Washington ATB series history.