The 1950 film "No Man of Her Own" is about a young woman named Helen who is left by her boyfriend several months pregnant, unmarried, and with little money. The man does give her a railroad ticket and on the train she meets Patrice, a woman her age who is married to a wealthy man and is also pregnant. Helen survives a railroad accident and wakes up as a hospital patient under the name of Patrice. The film was based on the 1948 novel I Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woolrich who wrote the novel and received the film credit under the name William Irish. The film is set in 1948 and 1949 and shows some coins in circulation at that time. Helen carries seventeen cents in coins with her and they are shown twice in the film. The coins are a dime, a nickel, and two pennies. The dime is a Liberty-head or "Mercury" dime, the nickel is a "buffalo" nickel, and one penny is a Lincoln-head cent.

Helen Ferguson is in a New York City coin telephone booth and telephones someone.

There is no answer, she retrieves her nickel, and holds some change in her hand.

The coin change is seventeen cents, a dime, a nickel, and two pennies. The dime is a Liberty-head or "Mercury" dime, the nickel is a "buffalo" nickel, and one penny is a Lincoln-head cent. In the novel the seventeen cents appear several times and are described as: "An Indian-head penny, a Lincoln-head penny, a buffalo nickel, and a Liberty-head dime." At one point she explains that she could even remember the dates on the coins. Helen then goes to the apartment of Stephen Morley, the man who caused her pregnancy, and bangs on his door. He refuses to open the door but slips an envelope under the door. Helen picks up the envelope and finds a railroad ticket to San Francisco.

She also finds an insulting five-dollar bill and leaves it on the floor. Stephen is shown inside the apartment with a friend.

Stephen's current girlfriend threatens him if he tries to dump her the same way. Helen, with nowhere else to go, boards the train where she meets Patrice and Hugh Harkness.

Patrice and Hugh Harkness are a married couple who have been living in Europe but have recently returned to America. Patrice is also pregnant and the couple is heading to the Harkness family home in the town of Caulfield, Illinois. Helen learns that the Harkness family owns a company and are quite wealthy. The two women are in the restroom when a crash occurs which flips the railroad car over. Helen wakes up in a hospital bed.

Helen has been treated for her injuries and has delivered a healthy baby son. She manages to look at a chart (dated July 4, 1948) and finds that the hospital believes her to be Patrice Harkness. The doctor informs her that Helen Ferguson and Hugh Harkness died in the accident.

Helen remembers the seventeen cents and realizes that she can give her son more as Patrice. She decides to keep the identity and from then on she is known as Patrice. The Harkness family has been sending gifts to her and the baby and when she recovers they pay for a railroad ticket to the family home in Caulfield, Illinois.

Patrice meets the family which consists of the father and mother of her deceased husband Hugh along with his older brother William.

William and Patrice begin keeping company. The family is rather formal and dress for dinner.

The father, Patrice, the mother, and William. For a while Patrice stays home with the excuse of minding the baby although the grandmother and the family maid also watch over the child, named Hugh after his father. William becomes suspicious of Patrice as she sometimes makes mistakes in her identity. At one point she accidently signs a notepad "Helen" in front of him. Despite his suspicions, William and Helen fall in love.

One day Patrice receives a telegram.

The telegram reads: "Where did you come from? - What are you doing there?" The Harkness family opens a checking account for Patrice and the father alters his will to include her. William asks Patrice to join him at the local country club.

She meets some members of the local society and one man she does not expect to see.

Stephen tells Patrice that he will inform the Harkness family of her real identity unless she gives him some money. He also intends to live in the town and expects her to support him. Patrice gives Stephen a check.

Patrice signs over a $500 check to Stephen dated February 15, 1949. Stephen then orders Patrice to accompany him to a local judge's office and marry him. Stephen tells her that he is not interested in her but only in the money. She protests but he replies with his threat to expose her to the family.

Patrice now smiles as she has decided on a sure-fire method to solve her problem. Stephen drops Patrice off at the family home and heads for an office that he is renting. Patrice later visits the office.

Patrice finds Stephen already dead.

Patrice fires a shot at Stephen and then leaves the room where she encounters William. He convinces her to work with him to cover up the killing.

William and Patrice transport the body to a railroad station. After returning home they both believe that the other shot Stephen. A police detective arrives at the Harkness house.

The detective notifies them that Stephen's body has been found with a gunshot wound.

The detective tells the couple that he wants them to come to the police office to explain their connection to the dead man and that they have already arrested the "real killer."

Stephen must have dumped her the same way.

Barbara Stanwyck as Helen Ferguson
John Lund as William Harkness
Lyle Bettger as Stephen Morley
Jane Cowl as Mrs. Harkness
Henry O'Neill as Mr. Harkness
Phyllis Thaxter as Patrice Harkness
Richard Denning as Hugh Harkness
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Writers: Sally Benson, Catherine Turney
Based on the 1948 novel I Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woolrich (as William Irish)