2023-S Bessie Coleman, Silver Proof

The 2023-S Bessie Coleman silver proof quarter pairs the aviator's design with the United States Mint's premium .999 fine silver composition, sold to collectors through the 2023 Silver Proof Set and the standalone American Women Quarters Silver Proof Set. Coleman remains a study in determination: refused by every American flight school in 1919 and 1920, she learned French in Chicago night classes, sailed for France in November 1920 on her own savings, trained at the Caudron school at Le Crotoy, and earned her international pilot's license in June 1921, two years before Amelia Earhart received her American certificate. San Francisco struck 395,000 silver proofs, less than half the clad proof figure of 829,526 and the lowest silver figure among the five 2023 American Women releases, reflecting concentrated subscriber demand and finite Mint production capacity for the .999 silver planchet.

Laura Gardin Fraser's 1932 Washington portrait occupies the obverse. The reverse, by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program designer Chris Costello and sculpted by Eric David Custer, frames Coleman in pilot's gear with her biplane curving past clouds behind her shoulder. The composition shifts from cupronickel to .999 fine silver at 6.343 grams and 24.3 millimeters, with a reeded edge, producing a heavier coin with a notably brighter white tone than the clad equivalent. Authentication diagnostics center on weight, which catches almost every counterfeit immediately, the warm white surface color of pure silver under raking light, and edge inspection for an unbroken reeded band free of the dark copper streak that marks every clad planchet.

Market values lift sharply at Proof 70 Deep Cameo from Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Proof 70 Ultra Cameo from Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), where pristine surfaces remain a meaningful sorting criterion within the limited 395,000 mintage. Read more on our Washington Quarters (American Women) series history.