The Bay Bridge Commemorative Half Dollar

In 1936, after about three and a half years of construction, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened to traffic, connecting the two cities. This bridge was a feat of architectural ingenuity. Traditional suspension designs wouldn’t work for this structure, because the distance between San Francisco and Oakland was too far. Luckily, Yerba Buena Island stood between the two cities in the bay, serving as a vital connection point between them. The architects were able to connect San Francisco to the island using two suspension bridges, and connected Oakland to the island using a cantilever truss design. The bridges on each side were connected to each other via a tunnel on Yerba Buena, creating the incredible Bay Bridge.

The Bay Bridge opened only six months before the more well-known Golden Gate Bridge. Because of this, two different commemorative coinage bills were considered by Congress: one to strike a coin commemorating the opening of the Bay Bridge and another to strike two coins, one commemorating the opening of the Bay Bridge and the other for the Golden Gate Bridge. The bill only honoring the Bay Bridge won the vote and was signed into law. It was decided that the coins would be struck at the San Francisco Mint, with a minimum mintage of 25,000.

The coins were designed by San Francisco artist Jacques Schnier, a Romanian immigrant, sculptor, and professor at University of California, Berkeley. They wanted the coins to represent California in both design and designer. Due to the lack of a bust, there was some minor debate about which side of the coin was meant to be the obverse and which was meant to be the reverse. However, it’s been accepted that the side with the bear is the obverse and the side with the bridge is the reverse.

The obverse design features a fierce grizzly bear. This is the state animal and a common artistic symbol used to represent the state of California. Schnier studied the grizzly bears in various local zoos when designing the bear for the coin. The rest of the design features the typical mottos, but there are also four stars spread out next to the bear. It is unclear what these are for, and they were not part of the original design; however, most believe they were added to balance out the composition. The reverse of the coin features an image of the Bay Bridge in all its glory. This is a view of the bridge from the San Francisco side. We know this because you can see the San Francisco Ferry Building in the foreground. There are two boats, a ferryboat and an oceanliner, sailing through the water that help balance out the design. The name of the bridge encircles the perimeter of the coin, and the date the coin was struck is located at the bottom.

These coins had an authorized mintage of 200,000, but only about half that number was struck. Although the bridge opened on November 12, 1936, the coins had been minted too late to be available during the opening celebrations. They weren’t available for purchase until a week later. These commemorative coins were sold by a group of local banks and could be purchased at their locations, by mail through the celebration’s organizers, or from booths at the entrance to the bridge. Selling the coins at the drive-up booths made them easy for people to purchase without leaving their cars, and these became the first and only drive-thru coins.