2022-S Wilma Mankiller, NIFC

The San Francisco NIFC (Not Intended For Circulation) issue of the Wilma Mankiller quarter shares the 863,886-piece reported mintage figure associated with the 2022 S production envelope, sold by the United States Mint in 40-coin rolls and 100-coin bags rather than entering general circulation. Mankiller's tenure as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1985 through 1995 brought sustained attention to tribal sovereignty, rural infrastructure, and community-led governance, and her receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 cemented her national profile. The NIFC format gives collectors a true uncirculated business-strike example with an S mintmark, a finish category that has appeared regularly on America the Beautiful and American Women quarter releases since 2012.

The reverse follows the same Benjamin Sowards composition used across all five 2022 issues of this coin, sculpted by Phebe Hemphill, with Mankiller facing slightly to her right, arms folded, hair carried by the wind, and the inscriptions Cherokee Nation in syllabary alongside a seven-pointed star and a single feather. The obverse retains Laura Gardin Fraser's 1932 Washington portrait, with the S mintmark to the right of the queue. Composition follows the clad standard at 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel bonded to a pure copper core, 5.67 grams, 24.3 millimeters across, with a reeded edge. The strike quality is uncirculated, not proof; surfaces show a satin or brilliant uncirculated luster rather than the mirror fields of S proof coinage.

Authentication of San Francisco NIFC quarters relies on the S mintmark combined with the business-strike finish, since a proof strike with the same date and mintmark would be a different product entirely. Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) certify these in standard Mint State grades, with MS67 and MS68 dominating registry-set submissions. See the Washington Quarters (American Women) series history.