Miss Munson? Was she really the model for the Mercury dime? If so a sad ending to her life.

kevinstang

Link to newspaper article

Local newspaper article on the career of Miss Munson, my mother worked at that hospital for years and knew this woman as a patient. The same story was always told that she was the lady on the dime. I never really thought it could be true but after reading this article about the lady and her modeling career I guess it could be.

keyman64

Wow, what a sad story. Locked up for 65 years!

garrynot

Her page on findagrave.com includes a photo. It is not hard to imagine she may have been the model for the Mercury dime. The bio on her page does not credit her with that.

messydesk

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.

Mark

kevinstang:

You might want to post this ATS to let RWB weigh in the claim. I'm at work and don't have access to his books but if anyone knows the validity of the claim that Ms. Munson was the model, he is the person.

AUandAG

Touching and sad.

bob

ricko

Interesting article....she certainly lived a long life...Cheers, RickO

garrynot

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15080347findagrave link

kevinstang

<< <i>kevinstang:

You might want to post this ATS to let RWB weigh in the claim. I'm at work and don't have access to his books but if anyone knows the validity of the claim that Ms. Munson was the model, he is the person. >>



Mark, can you decode this for me? I'm not sure what ATS is or who RWB is ???

baddogss

Across The Street (ATS) is code for the NGC forum, While RWB is Roger Burdette numismatic author and researcher.

Link to book review

Rollerman

I wasn't able to bring upthe article for some reason, but I seriously question whether Miss Munson was the model for the Mercury dime.
I did a display featuring the Walking Liberty Half and the Mercury Dime. In my research for the project, I found an article about the Mercury Dime and here's what I had accomplaining her photo:


"Elsie Stevens, wife of Wallace Stevens the Pulitzer Prize winning poet and author, was the model for the "Winged Liberty" Dime design of 1916."Text

FYI
Pete

Mark

baddogs:

Thanks!

messydesk

If anyone has RWB's "Renaissance" books handy, the names of the models are most likely in there. I can check tonight if I get a chance.

johnny9434

<< <i>Touching and sad.

bob >>

agreed.

kevinstang

Thought I would update this story with this article- it seems Miss Munson did pose for Adolf Weinman for a statue (as a winged figure) in 1915....maybe something to this after all:

link to article "Descending Night statue"

DaveWcoins

<< <i>Thought I would update this story with this article- it seems Miss Munson did pose for Adolf Weinman for a statue (as a winged figure) in 1915....maybe something to this after all:

link to article "Descending Night statue" >>



Wow -- what a beautiful & sad story.

ColonelJessup

IIRC there was a story circulating a number of years ago saying that the model was the wife of the poet Wallace Stevens.

kevinstang

I'm thinking Miss Munson's reputation as later being a nude actress, the murder and her committal to an insane asylum probably make her case for being the model not to popular. Alot of recent local interest in her up here in Northern NY. With that, the son of a local minister (his father was the hospital's minister for many years) added he remembers meeting her years ago and she gave him and his sister Mercury dimes and told them the story how she modeled for the dime as well. He also added that his father told him at one time they wanted to make a movie about her career, but since she was a ward of the State of NY, and mentally incapacitated no one could/would sign off on her behalf.