dollar has been widely admired. Swiatek deemed the coin "one of my favorite numismatic works of art". According to coin dealer and author Q. David Bowers, "the Citizens' Committee ... wisely ignored Fraser's criticism". Eric Brothers, in his 2014 article on the coin, wrote that it "embodied the quintessential imagery of California in the 1850s". David M. Bullowa, who studied commemorative coins on behalf of the American Numismatic Association in the 1930s, regarded it as "a very virile and well executed half dollar, in which obverse and reverse are definitely related to each other". His contemporary, B. Max Mehl, wrote in 1937 that it was a "beautiful coin ... [the] obverse is a very fine piece of art". Nevertheless, he mistook the animal on the reverse for a polar bear, and expressed puzzlement: "I have traveled and toured California from one end to the other and have never yet seen a bear". Art historian Cornelius Vermeule, in his volume on American coinage, deemed the California piece "one of America's greatest works of numismatic coinage." He considered the design bold and effective, and especially admired the animal, stating that the "muscles, bones, and tufts of fur express the massive determination of the bear." He felt the lettering particularly successful, as two different sizes are used, and although all three phrases customary on American coinage are present ("Liberty", "In God We Trust", and "E Pluribus Unum"), the "placing is so skillfully handled that it seems hard to realize all three ... inscriptions are used". Distribution and collecting The first California Diamond Jubilee half dollar struck was given to the Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The die used for the initial strikings was specially treated to produce a frosted or cameo effect, which wore down after the first approximately 75 strikings, according to Swiatek in his later volume on commemoratives. Numismatist Kevin Flynn suggests that the first 100 pieces exhibit these special surfaces, and that this was done at Rossi's request for presentation to VIPs. One piece is known without a mint mark; this was most likely a trial piece, prepared and owned by Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock and later sold from his estate. At least one half dollar must have left the San Francisco Mint by August 26, 1925, as it was shown at a meeting of the Pacific Coast Numismatic Society on that day. Children born