The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 8, February 20, 2005, Article 16

ASSAY COMMISSIONER PENNY CUNNINGHAM

On Thursday, February 17th The Birmingham News
published an article about Penny Cunningham, now 88
years old, who was appointed by President Richard Nixon
to the 1969 Assay Commission. Penney - great name for
a numismatist, eh?

"Behind the baby grand piano in the living room is a
painting of a pensive Penny Cunningham at age 16. The
impressionistic portrait, done recently by an Alabama
School of Fine Arts student, is surrounded by a blur of
items representing the arts.

The adjacent sun parlor features an extensive coin collection
on the wall and lots of old books, a rock collection,
translucent marbles, some of which belonged to her father,
and Frank Fleming sculptures on the bookshelves.

"I am a collector of collections," Cunningham says."

"She was born in 1916 at the old West End Hospital.

>From an early age, "I wanted to do everything," she says.
She took dance lessons from age 4 and still has her
recital programs. "I kept everything," she says."

Cunningham graduated from Phillips High School when
she was 15. "I wanted to go to college, but it was the
bottom of the Depression."

Even so, her family managed to send her to Birmingham-
Southern in 1932 where she majored in English and
Psychology. She then earned a master's degree in
psychology at Ohio State and later a doctorate in arts
administration at the University of Alabama.

She taught handwriting at Lakeview Elementary for 20
years and keeps in her secretary an inkwell like the one
she put on the windowsill for students to fill their fountain
pens. Former students still approach her once or twice
a week, and she can remember where many of them
sat in class."

"She often pursues a hobby for years, then drops it
suddenly and moves on.

Her coin collection was amassed over 15 years, and she
was appointed by President Richard Nixon to attend the
annual Assay Commission in 1969 at the U.S. Mint in
Philadelphia. The members of the commission examine
newly minted coins for one day.

"It was fun," she said about the honorary position. But
soon after, she stopped collecting coins. Most of them
are divided into three boxes, one for each of her grandsons."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

[We have some former Assay commissioners on our
subscriber list. Can anyone tell us what it was like to
serve on the commission? -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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