San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Opening – 1936

Celebrating the Opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge

1936 saw a flurry of proposed legislation for a variety of “worthy projects” where the proposers sought to have a commemorative half dollar issued. Some propels were worthy of commemoration and some were not. There were competing bills for the opening of the Bay Bridge, for the completion of the Bay Bridge and for the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, also under construction at that time.  Only the bill for the opening of the Bay Bridge was successfully shepherded through Congress.

The bridge, once completed, would allow drivers to go from San Francisco and Oakland easily and quickly. But until the 1930s, building this bridge was thought impossible – it is an 8-mile long span crossing waters that were very deep and had swift currents, and there was a noticeable lack of stable bedrock upon which to build.

The bill passed through both Houses of Congress and received President Franklin Roosevelt’s signature and became law. Now the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge Celebration Committee then had to select a designer and they selected California artist Jacques Schnier.

The obverse of the coin depicted a grizzly sometimes described as a bear named Monarch II, who lived in Golden Gate Park. Some authors believe the bear is a composite of several bears at local zoos. The bear is looking straight toward the viewer. Around the Periphery above the bear is “UNITED * STATES * OF * AMERICA.” That is followed by three five-pointed stars and then the denomination at the lower periphery “HALF DOLLAR” and then one additional five-pointed star. Above the denomination is the word “LIBERTY” and to the viewer’s left of the bear is “IN GOD WE TRUST.” 

The reverse of the coin depicts the Bay Bridge as its central vignette. The Ferry Building on the Embarcadero is front and center and hills are seen in the background. A small ferry boat and a large ocean liner sail through the waters. The periphery is surmounted with “SAN FRANCISCO – OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE” and at the bottom, periphery is the date “1936.”

The design was accepted and half of the 200,000 authorized coins were struck in November by the San Francisco Mint. An additional 55 coins were struck but collected and scheduled for Assay. The first 200 coins were struck for Presentation Purposes to various dignitaries.

The coins that were ordered through the mail were shipped into holders and envelopes pre-printed by the committee. There are both single and six-coin holders known.

Many of the 100,000 coins struck were sold at the toll booths on the Bay Bridge itself. It was quite an innovation to be able to purchase your souvenir commemorative coins as you drove across the Bay Bridge.

The customers who wanted these commemorative coins were also able to buy them from the San Francisco Clearing House Association, a consortium of local banks or through the mail. Once the sales had stopped in 1937, a total of 71,424 coins had been sold including the 55 reserved for assay. The rest were returned to the San Francisco mint for melting.

In 1986, Jacques Schnier was still alive so to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the issuance of the coins, 1,000 Bay Bridge coins were purchased by a coin dealer and encapsulated in a large holder with a depiction of the designer holding one of his plater models of the obverse of the commemorative coin. Schnier signed and sequentially numbered all 1,000 coin holders and the holders were sonically sealed.

Expand your collection today and shop for a 1936-S Bay Bridge Commemorative Half BU.