The 1916 Mercury Dime and Audrey Marie Munson.

My cousin Audrey Marie Munson was a beautiful lady. She had a very interesting life and also a very tragic life. She was born in the State of New York in 1891. At 15 she started a career as a model. She modeled for the 1916 Mercury Dime and a half dollar.

She was very successful as a model for statues. There are statues modeled after her all over New York City and other places in America. She was considered to be a woman with a perfect body.

She is sometimes called the girl of Manhattan.

She had a brief film career as a movie actress. Her nude scene in 1915 in the film "Inspiration" was the first nude scene in a standard film. 

Sorry folks. There are no prints left of the film. She made three more. The films are all gone.

Perhaps the notoriety of the films help lead to the end of her career. In 1922 she tried to commit suicide.  In 1931 she was committed to a psychiatric facility. She was there for the next 65 years until she died at the age of 105 in 1996.

What an interesting life! Twenty years as a famous busy model and actress and then 65 years in an institution. Must be a record.