Spring and graduations are in the air with a numismatic tribute to my daughter.

Spring is a special time of the year, as the cold of winter yields to the warmth of spring and new life blossoms up from the earth. Spring is also a time when young and old alike begin fresh chapters in their lives as they graduate from one phase of their life to another. This spring is especially significant to me, as a week from yesterday my daughter will graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University with a master?s degree, and I could not be prouder of her for the hard work she invested in earning her masters.

Since I am well past graduating from anything, I always enjoy it when someone close to me graduates. For instance, since I work with youth, just about every year I am attending one graduation party or another. When someone really close to me graduates, I buy them a card and give them a little money with a small gift. Since I believe that gifts should represent both the giver and the recipient alike, I usually give coins. As a gift, coins represent me as a collector. For the recipient, the date of the coin or coins corresponds to the year of their graduation.

In the past when my nieces or nephews were graduating from high school, I bought them silver proof sets. I remember my sister talking about which state quarters my nephew would get, since being from Wisconsin her son was getting the Wisconsin state quarter in his set. For other kids that are significant in my life, I bought Silver proof American Eagles (too bad that avenue has been cut off to us the last few years, oh well). Of course, both my children got silver proof sets as part of their graduation gift also.

This time around, I am not quite sure what to get my daughter, so I want to leave her a special numismatic tribute. When my daughter was a little girl, she loved to play with Barbie dolls. One time I noticed her and her friend playing church with their Barbies. They had a Ken doll as pastor and several Barbie dolls sitting in the pews. This event became one of those many touching moments you cherish about your kid?s lives as they are growing up, and one of many proud Daddy moments that I will always cherish (She still calls me Daddy). Based on this memory, I have chosen the Tuvalu 2009 Barbie 50th anniversary dollar to commemorate my daughter?s graduation. This coin also populates my ?Inspirational Ladies? signature set representing my daughter as one of a handful of special ?Inspirational Ladies? in my life.

Christina, I am so proud of you because of what you have accomplished against all odds, but more importantly, I am proud of you because I love you. I pray that God will bless your life with joy and success as you seek your first professional job. Enjoy your special tribute you deserve it. I hope that you like the coin I have chosen to represent you in my set; it will always remind me of you. Love Daddy