Steve Jobs to Be the Face of California Innovation on a $1 Coin Next Year

The co-founder of Apple and longtime Palo Alto resident, who died in 2011, made an overwhelming impact on how we live today — from personal computers and smartphones to streaming music and “Toy Story.”

Steve Jobs will grace a $1 coin next year as part of the U.S. Mint’s American Innovation series, thanks to a nomination by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The late Apple co-founder, who died in 2011, made an undeniable impact on how we live today. From personal computers and smartphones to streaming music and “Toy Story,” Jobs’ legacy extends far beyond any single product or company.

But don’t take my word for it. DeeDee Myers, director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), gave a presentation to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee on Feb. 18, explaining why the Silicon Valley icon was the right pick.

“Innovation is woven into every fiber of California, but our state’s specific brand of innovation is the perfect embodiment of Steve Jobs,” Myers told the committee members. “Steve’s legacy can’t be summed up with just one product or one company. He goes well beyond that. He was an expansive man with an expansive mind who wasn’t confined to just science and technology. His greatest contributions came from his ability to integrate art and humanity and design into that technology.”

Myers also shared six potential designs for the coin with the committee, which recommends designs to the U.S. treasury secretary. The designs will be narrowed down to one before the coin is minted in 2026.

The design preferred by the governor’s office and Jobs’ family featured a younger Jobs sitting cross-legged amid a California landscape with oak trees and rolling hills, along with the inscription “Make Something Wonderful.” According to Myers, this image better conveyed Jobs’ love of California nature, which was an important part of who he was. Other designs incorporated Jobs’ image with circuit designs and keyboards and one just featured his name with a tree growing circuit-like branches.

Ultimately, the committee opted to recommend a design with a more familiar image of Jobs — older and wearing glasses and his trademark black turtleneck. The design is fittingly simple and elegant.

Art Bernstein, the former executive director of San Jose law firm Hopkins & Carley who sits on the committee, said he preferred the more iconic image, despite the governor’s recommendation.

“This is the Steve Jobs that we saw introducing so many wonderful products to the public,” said Bernstein, who lives in Los Altos Hills but once lived across the street from the Jobs house in Palo Alto.