It's a stylized picture of Lady Liberty. The first circulation coin to bear the image of a specific individual was the familiar Lincoln cent, first issued in 1909. Prior to that all coins bore images of allegorical figures, or composite pictures such as the Indian Head cent.
The first year of issue for coins bearing historical figures are:
Cent - 1909 (Lincoln)
Nickel - 1938 (Jefferson)
Quarter - 1932 (Washington)
Half - 1948 (Franklin)
Large dollar - 1971 (Eisenhower)
Small dollar - 1979 (Susan B. Anthony)
Since then, of course, the half and dollar have been changed again - JFK on the half in 1964, and Sacajawea on the regular circulation dollar in 2000 (not counting the special presidential series).
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