1936 S US Silver Commemorative 50C BAY BRIDGE - NGC MS 67

1936 S US Silver Commemorative 50C BAY BRIDGE

Certified NGC MS 67

Photos are of the actual coin you will receive.

About Bay Bridge Silver Half Dollar
The opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was commemorated with the issuance of a silver half dollar. Commonly referred to as the Bay Bridge Half Dollar the issue proved to be one of the most popular from the plethora of commemorative coins released during the same year.

The coins were designed by San Francisco artist Jacques Schnier. The obverse features a grizzly bear as a symbol of California in three-quarter view. The inscriptions read UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY and HALF DOLLAR. The reverse design depicts the Bay Bridge with Ferry Tower in the foreground and Yerba Buena Island and East Bay Hills in the distance. The design is intriguing in the virtual lack of any completely smooth fields. Both the water and sky are presented in a modernistic pattern. Inscriptions read SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE and 1936.

The maximum authorized mintage for the issue was 200,000 pieces. The Coin Committee of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Celebration ordered 100,000 coins and indicated that it was their intention to only issue this amount. Coins were struck at the San Francisco Mint.

Sales took place at a cost of $1.50 per coin by mail and through the booths at the bridge entrances where people could drive-up to buy the coins. In 1937, sales were ended and an unsold quantity of 28,631 coins were melted. This resulted in a net distribution of 71,424 pieces for the 1936 Bay Bridge Half Dollar.

About Early Commemorative Coins
Early Commemorative Coins were issued between the years 1892 and 1954 and have included primarily silver half dollars and gold dollars. Over the years additional denominations have been used including the silver quarter, silver dollar, several gold quarter eagles and one $50 gold piece. In total there were 50 different Silver Commemorative coin designs and 9 different Gold Commemorative coin designs. Each issue was typically authorized by an act of Congress which provided a specific maximum or minimum mintage requirement. Because legislation often did not specify otherwise, some Commemorative coin issues were produced in multiple years or struck at multiple mints.