Coins of the Realms

A cheap collection
Found in the corners
Of emptied
Suit cases and pockets:
Evidence of travels
To places that
Look and sound
Different
But all of which
Worship
And pay homage to
Their own versions
Of icons of the
Great God Dollar.
By different designations
From
Different nations.
Money by any other name
Is still money.
And no matter how large
The bowl of it,
It will not transform
A cloudy day
Into one
That is sunny.

Round and plain,
Oddly shaped and ornate
Coins,
Once flat, now wrinkled
Paper
Bearing the images
Of locally recognizable
Historical
Figures.
Few smiles in the lot.
Being remembered and spent
Is all they have got.

Some money collectors
Take it from others
Like bill collectors
And thieves.
Some hoard it
Like old Scrooge McDuck.
For a hobby
In a locked vault
Or money bin.
Some proudly
Spend what they have
Flamboyantly
Wearing it's evidence
On their sleeves.

A numismatics if coins
Are collected,
A notaphilist if paper money
Is savored and more
Favored and selected.
Money is as money does.
Any intrinsic value is found
In what it is used for,
Not in what it was.