Question: Constance Ortmayer designed the coin that was first struck in what year?

The Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar was a fifty-cent piece struck intermittently by the United States Bureau of the Mint between 1926 and 1939.  The coin was designed by Laura Gardin Fraser and James Earle Fraser, and commemorates those who traveled the Oregon Trail and settled the Pacific Coast of the United States in the mid-19th century.  Struck over a lengthy period in small numbers per year, the many varieties produced came to be considered a ripoff by coin collectors, and led to the end, for the time, of the commemorative coin series. <SEP> The Maria Theresa thaler (MTT) is a silver bullion coin that has been used in world trade continuously since they were first minted in 1741, at that time using the then Reichsthaler standard of 9 thalers to the Vienna mark.  In 1750 the thaler was debased to 10 thalers to the Vienna Mark (a weight approximating half a pound of fine silver).  The following year the new standard was effectively adopted across the German-speaking world when that standard was accepted formally in the Bavarian monetary convention.  It is owing to the date of the Bavarian Monetary convention that many writers erroneously state that the Maria Theresa Thaler was first struck in 1751.  It was named after Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia from 1740 to 1780.  The word "thaler" gave rise to "daalder" and "daler", which became "dollar" in English. <SEP>  Ortmayer was inspired to become an artist by her father, Rudolph Ortmayer, who worked as a lithographer.  In 1926, Ortmayer began studying under Austrian born sculptor Franz Plunder. Constance Ortmayer (July 19, 1902 – May 15, 1988) was an American artist well known for designing the 1936 Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar.  She graduated from the Royal Academy in Vienna, Austria and studied Master School of the Royal Academy.  Upon returning to the United States in 1932, Ortmayer found difficulty gaining employment.  With the assistance of her friend, a tutor of Treasury secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Ortmayer became employed with the Section of Painting and Sculpture, coordinating design contests for federal buildings.  In 1937, she ended her employment with the Section.  Soon after, she was recruited as a sculpture instructor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida by the current president, Hamilton Holt.  Ortmayer was awarded commissions to design and create two bas reliefs for post offices in Arcadia, Florida and Scottsboro, Alabama as a result of her entering a national design competition.  The Arcadia relief, completed in 1939, is titled "Arcadia".  It features five people (two men, a woman and two children) with a cow and her calf.  The second relief, completed in 1940, is titled "Alabama Agriculture".  It features three separate panels, each depicting different stages of crop harvest.  In 1941, Ortmayer was promoted to assistant professor of sculpture in 1941.  In 1945, she was further promoted to associate professor.  She reached the status of professor of sculpture in 1947.  During her career at Rollins, Ortmayer created a number of award–winning medals.  Ortmayer retired in 1968.  She died on May 15, 1988. <SEP> The Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar or Cincinnati Music Center half dollar is a commemorative 50-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936.  Produced with the stated purpose of commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Cincinnati, Ohio as a center of music, it was conceived by Thomas G. Melish, a coin enthusiast who controlled the group which was allowed to buy the entire issue from the government, and who resold the pieces at high prices.