2015-S Saratoga Proof

San Francisco closed the 2015 ATB proof slate with Barbara Fox's Saratoga design at 1,177,515 pieces, the figure matching the U.S. Mint Clad Proof Set sales total because the five 2015 quarters shipped as a packaged product. The reverse depicts the October 17, 1777 surrender ceremony at Saratoga National Historical Park in New York, with British General John Burgoyne handing over his sword to American General Horatio Gates in the foreground. The composition is the only multi-figure historical scene in the entire 56-design ATB program and the program's only Revolutionary War subject, which makes the issue the structural cross-genre coin of the run. It is the fifth and final 2015 release.

Proof finish on the issue is the standard San Francisco style: mirrored fields struck from polished planchets against dies frosted in chemical baths before each press run. Cameo (CAM) and Deep Cameo (DCAM) are the contrast designations PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company, apply on top of the numeric grade, with DCAM the default outcome rather than an upgrade tier. The multi-figure composition makes strike quality the most diagnostic element on the issue: graders watch the facial profiles of both generals, the uniform detail across both figures, and the sword's hilt and blade transfer when separating PR69 from PR70. Worn dies flatten the small facial features and clothing folds first. 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 is essentially nil.

The issue trades at the upper end of the lower price band among 2015 ATB proofs because the historical subject draws cross-disciplinary collector interest from Revolutionary War and military-history buyers who do not normally follow modern coinage. A raw certified PR69-DCAM example moves for a small premium over the cost of breaking up a sealed 2015 Clad Proof Set, and PR70-DCAM examples in NGC or PCGS holders sit at a modestly higher tier. Registry-set demand on the issue runs slightly heavier than for the year's wildlife and landscape sister designs, reflecting the subject's broader recognition. The 1.18 million print run sits within the proof-set sales decline that continued through 2016 and 2017. For the broader story of the ATB proof program and the series' production arc, see the Washington ATB series history.