2015-S Bombay Hook, Silver Proof

San Francisco struck 472,828 pieces of the 2015-S Bombay Hook silver proof for that year's Silver Proof Set, the figure matching U.S. Mint product-sales records for the 2015 silver-set distribution and the fourth of five 2015 designs. The coin lands in the steady high-470-thousand band that defined the 2015 silver-proof run. Joel Iskowitz's reverse renders a great blue heron in foreground stillness with a great egret in flight behind it, both birds set against the tidal salt-marsh of Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge on the Delaware Bay shore. The refuge protects roughly 16,000 acres of tidal marsh, mudflat, and freshwater impoundments, hosting one of the largest Atlantic Flyway migratory bird concentrations. The 90% silver composition (.1808 troy ounces of pure silver, 6.25 grams total weight, 24.26-millimeter diameter, reeded edge) is the pre-2019 standard ATB silver-proof alloy.

Authentication on the coin anchors on weight and edge appearance. A calibrated jeweler's scale resolves 6.25 grams against the 5.67-gram clad-proof reading without ambiguity, and the edge reads as a uniform silver-gray reeded band with no copper-core sandwich visible. PCGS and NGC apply a "Silver" attribution to the slab label on top of the numeric grade and Cameo or Deep Cameo contrast designation. Cameo (CAM) is moderate frosted-device contrast; Deep Cameo (DCAM) is the higher-contrast tier and the default outcome on the issue rather than an upgrade step. Grade distribution clusters at PR69-DCAM and PR70-DCAM with population counts in the thousands at the top tier. The design-specific diagnostic is the layered feather detail on both birds and the texture of the marsh grass at the base, all fine-relief elements that flatten under weak press pressure into generic surfaces.

The coin trades in the modern silver-proof band with pricing that tracks silver spot for most of its movement and a small set-completion premium on top. PR69-DCAM examples sell for a small step over melt plus slab cost, and PR70-DCAM examples in NGC or PCGS holders carry a modest tier above that. The 472,828 silver-proof print run is roughly 40 percent of the 1.18 million 2015 clad-proof figure for the same design, which gives the silver version a structural scarcity edge against the clad sibling. Delaware regional collectors and birding topical buyers provide modest crossover demand, and Bombay Hook is one of the few federal-wildlife-refuge sites honored in the ATB program rather than a National Park or National Forest unit, which gives the design a position of structural distinction within the series. For the broader story of the ATB Silver Proof program and the series' production arc, see the Washington ATB series history.