The United States Mint is honoring Steve Jobs through California’s entry in its 2026 American Innovation $1 Coin Program. The design shows a young Jobs sitting before the oak-covered hills of northern California. According to the Mint, the setting represents how his surroundings influenced his approach to making technology feel natural and intuitive.
The coin’s inscription, “Make Something Wonderful,” echoes one of Jobs’ most memorable phrases, originally used in an internal Apple email encouraging creativity and care in everything the company made. The design was created by Elana Hagler and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill, two of the Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program artists known for blending realism with symbolism.
The Jobs coin joins others in the 2026 series celebrating American innovation, including Dr. Norman Borlaug of Iowa for his agricultural breakthroughs, Wisconsin’s Cray-1 supercomputer, and Minnesota’s invention of mobile refrigeration. Each represents a key moment when American ingenuity changed the world.
The obverse side of all 2026 American Innovation $1 coins will feature the Statue of Liberty in profile, along with a special privy mark incorporating a Liberty Bell and the number “250” to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The American Innovation program began in 2018, but the Jobs design stands out because it honors a technology figure whose work affected computers, phones, music, and film. The coin is also a reminder that the Mint’s definition of American innovation extends beyond inventions to the people who shaped how technology reached the public.
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