When the San Francisco�Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936, it allowed motorists, for

the first time, to drive quickly and easily between San Francisco and Oakland.
Ferries had operated across San Francisco Bay since 1851, but a bridge was far more
convenient for automobile drivers. Politics, engineering and financing had blocked
earlier proposals dating back to the 1870s; the winds and currents of the bay, and
the lack of bedrock to build upon, were believed by some to make such a bridge
impossible, especially since it would have to extend 8 miles (13 km). It was not
until the 1930s, when with the support of President Herbert Hoover, a Californian,
that the Reconstruction Finance Corporation agreed to purchase construction bonds
backed by future tolls for what would be the largest and most expensive bridge of
its time.[1]

Sparked by low-mintage issues which appreciated in value, the market for United
States commemorative coins spiked in 1936. Until 1954, the entire mintage of such
issues was sold by the government at face value to a group authorized by Congress,
who then tried to sell the coins at a profit to the public. The new pieces then
came on to the secondary market, and in early 1936 all earlier commemoratives sold
at a premium to their issue prices. The apparent easy profits to be made by
purchasing and holding commemoratives attracted many to the coin collecting hobby,
where they sought to purchase the new issues.[2] Congress authorized an explosion
of commemorative coins in 1936; an unprecedented fifteen were issued.[3] One coin
authorized and issued in 1936 was the Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar,
controlled and profited from by Thomas G. Melish�and issued to celebrate a
nonexistent anniversary.[4] In addition, at the request of the groups authorized to
purchase them, several coins minted in prior years were produced again, dated 1936,
senior among them the Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar, first struck in 1926.[3]

By mid-1936, Congress had reacted to these practices, adding protections to

commemorative coinage bills such as a requirement that all coins be struck at a
single mint, rather than all three then operating as with earlier issues (the use
of mint marks would force coin collectors to buy three near-identical coins to have
a complete set).[5] Such a provision was present in the bill authorizing the Bay
Bridge half dollar,[6] which also required that the funds generated be used towards
the celebration.[7] Unlike many early commemoratives, which were struck to mark an
anniversary, the San Francisco�Oakland Bay Bridge half dollar was, like the
Panama�Pacific commemorative coins, struck in order to celebrate an engineering
achievement.[8