The California Diamond Jubilee half dollar was a United States commemorative silver fifty-cent piece struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1925. It was issued to celebrate the 75th anniversary of California statehood. The San Francisco Citizens' Committee wished to issue a commemorative coin as a fundraiser for a celebration of the statehood diamond jubilee. A California congressman attached authorization for it to another coinage bill, which was approved by Congress in early 1925. Designs by sculptor Jo Mora met a hostile reception at the Commission of Fine Arts, but the Citizens' Committee would not change them, and they were approved. The coin has been widely praised for its beauty in the years since. The coins were struck in August 1925 in San Francisco, and were sold the following month. They did not sell as well as hoped: only some 150,000 of the authorized mintage of 300,000 were ever struck, and of that, nearly half went unsold and were melted. The coin is catalogued at between $200 and $1,300, though exceptional specimens have sold for more. Background The land that is now the state of California was first visited by Europeans when Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo visited there in 1542. His report to the Spanish crown garnered little interest, and it was not until the English seaman Sir Francis Drake touched there in 1579 that the Spanish were moved to colonize the area. Nevertheless, over the next 275 years, California saw few settlers, mostly around the chain of missions that were founded there, both under the Spanish, and subsequently under Mexican rule. According to numismatic author Arnie Slabaugh, "the coming of American settlers brought two changes to California that continue to this day: immigrants (both foreign and American) and activity". In 1846, American settlers revolted against Mexican rule, founding the Bear Flag Republic; its flag featured a grizzly bear. The republic proved short-lived; the Mexican–American War had begun, and California was occupied by U.S. forces. A week before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in January 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill by James W. Marshall. The California Gold Rush followed, as did statehood for California in 1850. Inception The California Diamond Jubilee half dollar originated with the desire of the San Francisco Citizens' Committee (Angelo J. Rossi, chairman), to have a commemorative half dollar to sell as a fundraiser for a local celebration in commemoration of