PURNIE MOORE (1907-2008)

The topic of hundred-year-old numismatists comes up occasionally in The E-Sylum. Apparently, I have become the keeper of the list. I recently added another name that had previously been overlooked.

Purnie Estelle Doss was born in Adamsville, Alabama, on August 26, 1907, the daughter of railroad foreman John Wesley Doss and Olive Bradford Doss.

She was married in Alabama on June 4, 1927, to Earl Moore. He died of wounds in France on March 17, 1945, during World War II. They had no children. In 1954, Purnie was chapter president of Gold Star Wives and national parliamentarian in 1958.

She worked as a teller and vault clerk at the First National Bank of Birmingham from 1929 to 1969. She Frequently spoke about coins to local organizations.

Purnie Moore was active with several civic organizations. In 1957 she was first vice president and in 1958 to 1959 she was president of the Birmingham Women's Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1956 she was treasurer and in 1959 she was elected president of the Birmingham Symphony League. She was treasurer of the Birmingham Chapter, American Institute of Banking (1955-1956).

When has a coin collection became too large? Purnie reported that she kept her best coins locked in a vault. The weight of another coin collection stored in her attic caused the kitchen ceiling to fall down.

She joined the American Numismatic Association as member 23161 in 1954 and was recognized as a fifty-year member in 2004. She served the ANA as district representative (1980) and regional representative (1975) and received an ANA Medal of Merit in 1987. She converted to life membership (LM-1722) in 1994. She was not noted as a sixty-year member in 2014. There was no obituary for her published in The Numismatist.

She was secretary (1957) and past president (1961) of the Birmingham Coin Club. She served as General Chairman for the Alabama Numismatic Society shows 1961-1964. Then she was elected treasurer (1964-1965) and executive secretary of the Alabama Numismatic Society promoting club shows (1974-1996). Also on the board and president in 1987 was her cousin Clyde H. Fisher. She served on the U. S. Assay Commission in 1971 and was a member of the Old Time Assay Commission (OTAC). In 1980 she was named a Numismatic News Numismatic Ambassador. She was also a member of the Society of Paper Money Collectors (SPMC).

Purnie Moore died at home at age 100 on May 3, 2008, in Birmingham, Alabama, and is buried at Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Corner, Alabama.

She is an example of an active volunteer serving on a local or regional level who may not be recognized for service on a national level.

• Dorothy Baber, 100 (1920-2021)
• Carl G. Boehmer, 105 (1906-2011)
• James E. Charleton, 102 (1911-2013)
• Edward Louis Dence, 103 (1917-2021)
• William S. Dewey, 100 (1905-2006)
• Edward Gans, 103 (1887-1991)
• Dr. Jesse C. Green, 103 (1817-1920)
• Robert L Hendershott, 106 (1898-2005)
• Genevieve T. Herdegen, 103 (1886-1989)
• Clyde Hubbard, 104 (1916-2020)
• Honora Nora W. Hussey, 105 (1915-2020)
• Robert Hepworth Lloyd, 103 (1906-2009)
• Purdie Estelle Doss Moore, 100 (1907-2008)
• Eric P. Newman, 106 (1911-2017)
• Nellie Tayloe Ross, 101 (1876-1977)
• Carl H. Subak, 103 (1919-2022)

 

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