One old-time dealer in commemoratives told me that he visited Dunn in the Phoenix Hotel, and that Dunn had two offices - one room in which he received mail and sold commemorative half dollars at the issue price - and another room on the same floor, not generally open to visitors, in which he maintained his stock of "sold out" issues and offered them secretly at advanced prices.

The 1936-S Oakland Bay Bridge half dollar has the unique distinction of being the first and possibly the only commemorative half dollar available for sale at a drive-up window. Examples were offered for sale to automobilists who visited toll booths at each end of the famous span.

I mentioned the long series of Boone half dollars and the varieties associated therewith, and I mentioned the three varieties of 1936 Cincinnati half dollars, so it's only right that I mention certain other series. The Arkansas centennial was to be celebrated in 1936, but promoters could not wait. Therefore, pieces were produced at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints beginning in 1935! Production continued through 1939, thus observing the centennial in a rather extended (and greedy) fashion. Of all commemorative half dollar sets, Arkansas pieces were the most poorly produced, with unsatisfactory finishes, often showing extensive bagmarks and dull lustre. Even pieces taken from original wrappings are apt to look like they have been severely mistreated. For this reason, Arkansas half dollars, although quite rare in many instances, have never been popular with collectors.

Oregon Trail half dollars, first issued in 1926, turned into another scandal, and by the time the last Oregon half dollars were produced in 1939, just about everyone was thoroughly disgusted with them, with the possible exception of Wayte Raymond (acting for J.W. Scott & Co.), distributor of certain of the later issues. Raymond, by the way, was a professional numismatist of great reputation, and certainly one of the most influential and most important dealers of our century. It was Raymond who launched the Standard Catalogue of United States Coins, thus paving the way to the widespread collecting of dates and mintmark varieties. Raymond sponsored the early research activities of Walter Breen, who became one of the greatest numismatic scholars ever. Similarly, he acted as a mentor to John J. Ford, Jr., who went on to revolutionize the way auctions were catalogued. However, like nearly all professional numismatists of the 1930s, Raymond had to work hard to make a living, and as long as there were people buying commemorative half dollars, Raymond and others sold them. I imagine that had I been living in the mid-1930s, I would have liked nothing better than to have had a commemorative half dollar distributorship of my own!