2022-S Anna May Wong Proof

The 2022-S Anna May Wong clad proof quarter delivers the San Francisco Mint's mirrored interpretation of the design that introduced the first Asian American to United States circulating coinage. Wong's path from a Los Angeles laundry to the front rank of international cinema reads like the program's thesis statement: she filmed her breakout lead in "The Toll of the Sea" in 1922 as a seventeen year old, sailed for Europe in 1928 to escape Hollywood's typecasting, and returned in 1932 for "Shanghai Express" opposite Marlene Dietrich. San Francisco struck 863,886 clad proofs for collector distribution inside the 2022 United States Mint Proof Set and the five-coin American Women Quarters Proof Set. The figure reflects ordered demand rather than production capacity, since proof coinage is dispatched on a presale basis and unsold inventory is typically melted rather than warehoused.

Laura Gardin Fraser's 1932 Washington portrait holds the obverse. The reverse, conceived by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Emily Damstra and sculpted by John P. McGraw, places Wong in contemplative profile with theater marquee bulbs arcing behind her. Proof specifications mirror the circulating clad alloy at 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel over a pure copper core, 5.67 grams, 24.3 millimeters, with the reeded edge added during the upset and strike sequence. The diagnostic signature is the polished mirror field set against frosted, cameo devices created by laser-treated dies that San Francisco operates under multiple slow-speed strikes per coin. Authentication relies on field reflectivity, evenness of frost across Wong's hair detail, and the crispness of each individual marquee bulb.

Premiums for this proof issue concentrate at Proof 70 Deep Cameo from Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Proof 70 Ultra Cameo from Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), where mishandling has thinned the certified population well below the original 863,886 mintage. Read more on our Washington Quarters (American Women) series history.