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1817 Birth of Bahá'u'lláh
Born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí (Persian: میرزا حسینعلی نوری), in Tehran, capital of the Persian Empire, He became the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, youngest of the world religions, which advocates universal peace and unity among all races, nations, and religions.
Scholars trace His ancestry back to Abraham through Abraham's wife Keturah, to Zoroaster, to Yazdgerd III, the last king of the Sassanid Empire, and also to Jesse, father of King David.
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This new design first minted in 1816 was a resounding artistic failure, but it did have one redeeming quality: no one could mistake the new Liberty for a boy athlete, an accusation leveled at the Classic Head cent created in 1808.
The new design featured an enlarged head of Liberty. The fillet holding the hair on the previous Classic Head series was replaced by a coronet and the word LIBERTY was added in relief. The reverse was essentially unchanged and retained the “Christmas wreath” of Reich’s 1808 design. While generally referred to as the “Coronet” type, this is not a universally accepted name. Some collectors prefer “Matron Head.” Dr. William Sheldon, author of the standard reference for cents struck from 1793 to 1814, scathingly remarked that the figure of Liberty on these coins “resembled the head of an obese ward boss instead of a lady.”