2013-S Great Basin, NIFC

The 2013-S Great Basin, NIFC is the third of the year's five San Francisco business-strike issues sold direct to collectors. Don Everhart's reverse renders an ancient bristlecone pine in the foreground of the Snake Range, the eastern Nevada landscape protected by Great Basin National Park since 1986. The species the design depicts is among the longest-lived organisms on Earth, with some individuals in the park dating to before the construction of the Great Pyramids. The Mint produced 1,232,104 pieces, matching the uniform 2013 NIFC figure, and sold them through annual Uncirculated Coin Sets and two-roll bag products.

Authentication is finish identification rather than fabric analysis. The piece is a business strike with the cartwheel luster typical of a Mint State quarter, distinct from the 2013-S clad and silver proofs of the same design that carry mirrored fields and frosted devices. The S mintmark above Washington's head appears on all three product categories, so it does not separate them, but field reflection does: cartwheel for business strike, deep mirror for proof. The clad composition (75% copper-nickel over a pure copper core, 5.67 grams, 24.26 mm) follows the standard Washington quarter formula in use since 1965. Counterfeit concerns are negligible on modern Mint-direct product.

This is a Regular-classification issue with a small but real design constituency. The bristlecone pine is one of the more striking visual choices in the ATB program, and the 2013 NIFC version is one of three product channels collectors can buy the design through, alongside the P/D circulation strikes and the 2013-S proofs. Population reports at MS67 are well-supplied, MS68 examples come up regularly, and pricing tracks the NIFC norm: modest premium over face value for raw examples, small step-ups for certified gem grades. Set builders chasing the 45-entry NIFC run typically pick the issue up at near-retail through dealer inventory or eBay. For the broader story of the ATB program and the NIFC collector-only product line, see the Washington ATB series history.