2010-S Yosemite Proof

The 2010-S Yosemite Proof is the third design of the first San Francisco ATB proof year, struck against the same 1,397,219-set production figure that anchors every 2010 clad proof issue. Joseph Menna's reverse, sculpted in low relief for the proof dies, renders the granite face of El Capitan with the Merced River winding through the meadow at its base. The proof presentation suits the composition: polished fields throw the field mirror across the open sky and meadow while the frosted granite face holds the heavy device contrast that defines Deep Cameo work. Yosemite was protected first through the 1864 Yosemite Grant signed by President Lincoln and elevated to national park status by Congress in 1890, federal-protection lineage that gave the design real numismatic gravity inside the 2010 group.

Authentication on the issue starts with the S mintmark above Washington's head and the surface contrast that defines modern proof work. 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 the granite face and the meadow detail is heavy and dense and the field mirror is unbroken. Look at the texture across El Capitan's vertical face and the foreground evergreens for strike grading. Late-die-state examples show flattening across the granite's cross-bedding lines and the smaller pine clusters at the base. 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 widely available in PR69-DCAM through both major services and steadily supplied in PR70-DCAM at a workable premium. Pop reports for the date show standard 2010 distribution, with the real climb at PR70-DCAM rather than at the Deep Cameo break. Yosemite's status as one of the most recognizable American landscapes gives the issue a popularity edge among single-design buyers who want one proof from the 2010 group rather than the full set. For the broader story of the ATB proof program and the series' production arc, see the Washington ATB series history.