2015-P Saratoga

The 2015-P Saratoga closed the sixth ATB year with the only Revolutionary War subject in the entire 56-design program, commemorating the New York battlefield where British General John Burgoyne surrendered to American General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777. Barbara Fox's reverse depicts the surrender ceremony itself, with Burgoyne handing over his sword in the foreground, the most narrative-driven scene in the ATB lineup and a sharp departure from the landscape, wildlife, and architectural compositions that dominate the rest of the program. Philadelphia struck 223,000,000 pieces, a moderate-high figure that sits in the middle of the 2015 production band.

Strike quality on the issue is the most demanding in the year's lineup because the multi-figure composition requires clean rendering across several human subjects, the sword, and the background detail simultaneously. Grading services watch the facial profiles, the uniform detail on both figures, and the sword's hilt and blade when separating MS66 from MS67. Worn dies flatten the fine garment detail and the small facial features first, so the figures' clothing folds are useful die-state indicators. The clad composition (75% copper-nickel over a pure copper core, 5.67 grams, 24.26 mm) follows the standard quarter formula in use since 1965, so counterfeit risk is functionally nil. The high-grade market runs through PCGS (the Professional Coin Grading Service) and NGC slabs; roll hunters working original Philadelphia rolls still pull MS65 examples with relative ease.

As a collecting target, this is a Regular-classification issue where the registry market lives at MS67 and above. The challenging multi-figure design has produced thinner top-grade populations than the headline mintage would suggest, since strike quality flaws show up more visibly on figural work than on landscape or single-subject wildlife designs. MS68 examples are correspondingly scarce and price accordingly. The Revolutionary War subject has also drawn cross-disciplinary collector interest from historical buyers who do not normally follow modern coinage, which has supported steady demand at all grade levels. For the broader story of the ATB program and the series' design arc, see the Washington ATB series history.