2026 American Innovation Dollars

The United States Mint has released the designs for the 2026 American Innovation $1 Coin Program. The 2026 issues honor innovations and/or innovators from Iowa, Wisconsin, California, and Minnesota. This multi-year series that began in 2018 honors America’s ingenuity and celebrates the pioneering efforts of individuals or groups from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories.  

The coins’ common obverse features a dramatic representation of the Statue of Liberty in profile, with the inscriptions IN GOD WE TRUST and $1, along with a unique privy mark of a stylized gear representing industry and innovation. In 2026 the privy mark will also incorporate a Liberty Bell with the inscription “250” to commemorate the semiquincentennial of our nation’s founding. The edge-incused inscriptions are 2026, the mintmark, and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The mint will release specimens featuring the following motifs next year.

Iowa

The Iowa $1 depicts Dr. Norman Borlaug holding a sheaf of wheat and wheat stalks, highlighting his pioneering work developing resilient crops capable of feeding a growing global population. 

Designer: Don Everhart, Artistic Infusion Program Designer

Sculptor: Eric David Custer, Mint Medallic Artist

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin $1 exhibits a stylized aerial view of the Cray-1 supercomputer, oriented to suggest the shape of a “C” for Cray-1 and computer.

Designer: Paul Romano, Artistic Infusion Program Designer

Sculptor: John P. McGraw, Mint Medallic Artist

California

The California $1 presents a young Steve Jobs sitting in front of a quintessentially northern California landscape of oak-covered rolling hills. His posture and expression, captured in a moment of reflection, show how this environment helped shape the Apple founder’s vision to transform complex technology into something as intuitive and organic as nature itself. 

Designer: Elana Hagler, Artistic Infusion Program Designer

Sculptor: Phebe Hemphill, Mint Medallic Artist

Minnesota

The Minnesota $1 features a 1940s-era truck with an early front-mounted refrigeration unit. The icons on the side of the truck represent the variety of temperature-sensitive goods whose widespread transportation was made possible by this innovation. 

Designer: Beth Zaiken, Artistic Infusion Program Designer

Sculptor: Joseph V. Noorigian, Mint Medallic Artist