In 1936 alone 19 commemorative half dollars were minted, not including two half dollars that were dated 1936 but were actually minted the following year. Multiple unrelated commemoratives also were minted in many years, diminishing the significance of commemorative issues. Starting in the 1930s, the US Mint was criticized for issuing commemorative coins of dubious recognition and seemingly endless mint runs (the Oregon Trail Memorial 50-cent piece was minted 8 years during a 14-year span). (The first was the 1921 Alabama Centennial half dollar, which showed a bust of then-Governor Thomas Kilby.) Coolidge remains the only president depicted on coinage during his lifetime. The obverse of the coin featured busts of George Washington and Calvin Coolidge. The 1926 United States Sesquicentennial half dollar was the second United States coin to feature a living person at the time of its minting. Money raised from the sale of the coins was combined with money raised by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Association in order to fund the carving of a Confederate monument at Stone Mountain. In 1925, a commemorative 50-cent coin was released that showed Robert E. The coin was offered in both round and octagonal versions, the latter being the only US coin that is not round. This was the first time a commemorative coin was produced in a denomination that was not issued for circulation (a half union coin was proposed, but was never released into circulation). In 1915, the mint issued the Panama–Pacific half union, which had a face value of $50. The following year, the Columbian Exposition quarter dollar featuring Queen Isabella of Spain was issued. Most standard US commemorative coin lists begin with the 1892 Columbian half dollar commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to America.

These coins were standard quarter eagles that were modified by punching CAL.

The earliest commemorative coin minted by the US Mint was the 1848 'CAL' quarter eagle, which commemorated the finding of gold in California.

3 Specifications of traditional commemorative coins.

2018 us coins