Steve Jobs picked for California’s American Innovation Coin

The 2026 American Innovation $1 Coin project will honor former Apple CEO Steve Jobs with a one-dollar coin bearing his image that costs, at best, $1.55 each.

In 2018, the United States Mint (Mint) announced that it would honor American innovation and pioneering efforts of individuals or groups with $1 coins. Coins will be issued for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories.

This year, the Mint will be issuing California’s coin, which will feature “a young Steve Jobs sitting in front of a quintessentially northern California landscape of oak-covered rolling hills.” The Mint works directly with the office of the Governor or other Chief Executive for each state, territory, or city to determine both the subject and design.

“The innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Steve Jobs embodied the best of California, creating the future we all know today,” Governor Newsom said in a press release on Monday. “His tenacity and fearless pursuit of the California Dream made so many American dreams possible. May we all attempt to fill his shoes as we seek our own California Dreams.”

According to the Mint, the Secretary of the Treasury selects the final design for each coin.

“I’m pleased to celebrate the release of the California American Innovation $1 Coin,” said Mint Director Paul Hollis.

“Steve Jobs was a remarkable innovator and transformed how the world connects and communicates,” Hollis said. “Through this coin, the Mint honors his incredible work and recognizes his importance to both California and the United States.”

The design includes the inscriptions “Steve Jobs” and “Make Something Wonderful.” The latter is a nod to a larger phrase that Jobs said from an internal Apple employee-communications meeting held on October 23, 2007, as noted by The Steve Jobs Archive.

The whole quote, for those interested, is:

There’s lots of ways to be as a person, and some people express their deep appreciation in different ways, but one of the ways that I believe people express their appreciation to the rest of humanity is to make something wonderful and put it out there.

Those interested in purchasing the coins can do so via the United States Mint website. Prospective buyers can select between a roll of 25 coins or a bag of 100 coins, and can pick whether the coins are minted in Denver or Philadelphia.

A roll of coins, regardless of mint location, will cost a buyer $61, or $2.44 each. A bag of coins will cost $154.50, or roughly $1.55 each.

Orders for the 100-coin bags are limited to 10 per household. Orders for the rolls are also limited to 10 per household.

Coins go on sale via the United States Mint website starting on May 12, 2026. There will be a total 25,950 Steve Jobs dollar coins manufactured.

Previous states and their innovations include Pennsylvania and the Polio vaccine, New Jersey and the lightbulb, Ohio and the Underground Railroad, and Texas and the International Space Station. To date, 33 states have had coin designs released or revealed.