2022-S Anna May Wong, Silver Proof

The 2022-S Anna May Wong silver proof quarter pairs the program's most historically significant portrait with the United States Mint's premium .999 fine silver composition, sold to collectors through the 2022 Silver Proof Set and the dedicated American Women Quarters Silver Proof Set. Wong herself remains the headline: a Los Angeles native whose career arced from "The Toll of the Sea" in 1922 to "Shanghai Express" in 1932 and a long final chapter in television before her death in 1961, all of it conducted in defiance of anti-miscegenation laws that barred her from playing romantic leads opposite white actors throughout her American film years. San Francisco struck 407,557 silver proofs, less than half the clad proof figure of 863,886 and the lowest collector mintage among the five 2022 American Women silver releases.

Laura Gardin Fraser's 1932 Washington portrait anchors the obverse. The reverse, designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Emily Damstra and sculpted by John P. McGraw, frames Wong with her chin resting on her hand and a marquee of theater bulbs behind her. The composition shifts to .999 fine silver at 6.343 grams and 24.3 millimeters, with a reeded edge, replacing the cupronickel clad of regular proofs and producing a noticeably heavier, brighter coin in hand. Authentication diagnostics include weight (the 6.343 gram standard is the single fastest tell against a clad swap), the warmer white tone of pure silver under raking light compared to the cooler cupronickel, and edge inspection for an unbroken reeded band without the dark copper streak that marks every clad planchet.

Population reports across Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) show meaningful jumps in value at the Proof 70 Deep Cameo and Proof 70 Ultra Cameo tier, where careful handling separates pristine examples from the typical Proof 69 grade. Read more on our Washington Quarters (American Women) series history.