Steve Jobs, who helped usher in the era of personal computing and led a transformation of the tech industry, will represent California on one of the $1 commemorative coins to be minted for the 2026 American Innovation collection, issued by the US Mint.
The Apple co-founder, who died in 2011, will be depicted alongside the inscription: "Make something wonderful."
According to the US Mint, the coin will feature Jobs sitting cross-legged in front of a California landscape of oak-covered rolling hills. His posture and expression, captured in a moment of reflection, evoke how this environment inspired his vision to "transform complex technology into something as intuitive and organic as nature itself".
The coin is part of a series that has paid tribute to American Innovation since 2018. It has no connection to the rapport Apple CEO Tim Cook has with US President Donald Trump. Each state is allowed to nominate its own icon for commemoration: Wisconsin has chosen the Cray-1 Supercomputer, Iowa has selected agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, and Minnesota has gone with "mobile refrigeration".
Jobs and Silicon Valley cannot be seen in isolation. His biological father was a Syrian immigrant, and he was placed for adoption. Eventually, Jobs started a company in a garage with his friend Steve Wozniak. Despite being ousted from Apple during its early years, he returned to lead the company into an era that made it the most influential consumer brand in the world.
During his years away from Apple, Jobs acquired a computer graphics division from director George Lucas and built a team of computer scientists, artists, and animators that would become Pixar Animation Studios.
When nominating Jobs in February, California governor Gavin Newsom said he "encapsulates the unique brand of innovation that California runs on".
In the past, the programme has celebrated inventors and inventions such as the lightbulb (New Jersey) and the Hubble Space Telescope (Maryland).
California, which is home to Hollywood and Silicon Valley, is known to stand for tolerance and diversity. Hostilities between the state and Trump broke out during California's devastating wildfires when the President sought to blame Newsom and other officials.
In April, California officially overtook Japan to become the fourth biggest economy in the world; its GDP of $4.1 trillion trails only the entirety of the US, China, and Germany.