US Mint $1 coin honoring Steve Jobs to go on sale Tuesday. Here’s how to get it
Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder whose inventions changed how people use computers, phones and digital media, is being honored with a new $1 coin that goes on sale Tuesday.
The coin, part of the U.S. Mint’s American Innovation $1 Coin Program, recognizes Jobs as California’s selection in the nationwide series celebrating innovators from every state, U.S. territory and the District of Columbia.
The reverse of the coin depicts a young Jobs seated in front of Northern California’s oak-covered rolling hills. The design includes the inscriptions “Steve Jobs” and “Make Something Wonderful,” a phrase associated with the entrepreneur who died of pancreatic cancer in 2011.
The phrase inscribed on the coin comes from a 2007 meeting with Apple employees, when Jobs described creating products as a way to show “our deep appreciation” to humanity. The Steve Jobs Archive — founded by his widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, in 2022 — later used the quote as the title of a free 2023 digital book collecting Jobs’ speeches, letters and reflections.
The excerpt of what Jobs said during the meeting nearly 20 years ago:
“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.
“And you never meet the people, you never shake their hands, you never hear their story or tell yours, but somehow, in the act of making something with a great deal of care and love, something is transmitted there.
“And it’s a way of expressing to the rest of our species our deep appreciation. So, we need to be true to who we are and remember what’s really important to us. That’s what’s going to keep Apple Apple: is if we keep us us.”
Jobs, who was born in San Francisco, co-founded Apple in Mountain View and helped launch products that transformed personal computing and consumer technology, including the Apple II, Macintosh, iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Apple, which has a market value of about $4.29 trillion, is the world’s third most-valuable publicly traded company.
Gov. Gavin Newsom selected Jobs to represent California, citing his impact on technology, communication, storytelling and modern life.
“The innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Steve Jobs embodied the best of California, creating the future we all know today,” Newsom said in a statement. “His tenacity and fearless pursuit of the California Dream made so many American dreams possible.”
Jobs also co-founded Pixar Animation Studios and served as its CEO. The company produced “Toy Story,” the first fully computer-animated feature film.
The U.S. Mint said the design captures Jobs “in a moment of reflection,” inspired by California’s natural beauty and his goal of making sophisticated technology intuitive and accessible.
The coins, which were minted in Philadelphia and Denver, will be available beginning at 9 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday through the U.S. Mint’s website. Buyers can purchase a bag of 100 $1 coins for $154.50 or a roll of 25 $1 coins for $61.
The American Innovation $1 Coin Program began in 2018 and honors groundbreaking innovations and the people behind them. The Steve Jobs coin is the third release in the Mint’s 2026 series.
This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 12:18 PM with the headline "US Mint $1 coin honoring Steve Jobs to go on sale Tuesday. Here’s how to get it."
