Counting The Days of Kwanzaa: Zawadi Stories of Gift Giving

The fourth principle of Kwanzaa is Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics

When I was growing up, silver coins were one of the gifts children in the family received during Christmas.  Silver dollars were easy gifts to give especially when there were lots of children. We were expected to keep them as a small investment that would hopefully grow in value. Sometimes the coins were old, and had monetary and historic value. This was my first introduction to coin collecting.

The US Mint explains why people have an interest in coin collecting,  “Throughout human history, civilizations have told the story of their people through their coins. Today, they still communicate their values and ideals on coins, using symbols and mottos to represent who they are to anyone holding them. As you dive into the world of coin collecting, you’ll discover the wealth of symbolism and the stories that societies wanted to pass on to future generations. You’ll discover the values they cherished, the ideas they celebrated, and the heroes who helped guide their people to where they are today.”

The Lady Liberty coin was the first depiction of an African American woman by the United States Mint, and was created in 2017 to mark their 225th anniversary. For serious collectors the 2017 edition of the coin will only be sold in gold and silver until the end of this year. However the 2018 edition of the coin will continue to be sold.

Since I am not a collector, I don't know if the coins will have any monetary value but they do have historical significance. The US Mint also has coins of Barak Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Tuskegee Airmen.

Gifts for Kwanzaa are called Zawadi and they are supposed to have special meaning. "These are symbolic of the labor and love of parents and the commitments made and kept by the children." Gifts that invest in our children's future can be symbolic but they can also have monetary value like setting up an educational fund for college or gifting classes in technology to a young person.  These are the gifts that our children may not thank us for today but will appreciate in the future.