Mary Cunningham

Mary Cunningham worked as a domestic servant for the famous sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudins in New Hampshire.

In 1907 (after Saint-Gaudens’ death and before the issuance of the coins), the New York Times claimed in a series of scandalous articles full of rumors and innuendo that she was the “model for the head of the Goddess of Liberty which is to appear on the new one-cent and the ten-dollar gold pieces …” The newspaper reported on “the criticism which has arisen in many sections of the country concerning the appropriateness and sense of patriotism which brought about the decision to select an Irish face, handsome though it might be, as typical of a ‘real’ American for the design for American coins …”