Oooh, Shiny

Alright kids, it's late, so I'll make this quick. Today I spent a nice lazy Saturday with Lee, which was easy to take for granted when we lived in the same state, but which feels like a special treat now that we live so far apart. He introduced me to his usual solo Saturday routine, which basically consists of checking out the local coin shops and then eating junk food for lunch. (Maybe next weekend I can show him my usual Saturday - sleeping in, lunch at Panera, surfing the internet, running, and reading.)

Lee collects coins, hence the frequent visits to coin shops. I'm pretty sure I'd be terrible at collecting coins, because my primary basis for evaluating currency is as follows: Is it pretty? If so, I would like it, please. While Lee looked patiently (also not one of my strengths) through boxes of individually packaged coins, I flipped through albums of paper money that was all nearly worthless (except, you know, as currency worth its face value). Although I think that our monochromatic U.S. currency looks much more official than currency from other countries (because I guess in my mind, legitimate government stuff = pretty boring), most other countries are kicking our asses in terms of the artistic merit of their bills. I was particularly impressed with the bills I saw from Zambia:



I really like the fact that they have smiling people on their money. Think how much happier you'd be if your dollar bills smiled at you instead of scowling at you, probably thinking about the old days when white men were the winners and everybody else had to shut up and like it.

I was also a fan of the francs from 1940s France, which look like little works of Renaissance art you get to carry around in your pocket.

Perdonez-moi, would you like to visit the Louvre this afternoon? No thanks, I thought I'd just sit around admiring whatever I can find in my wallet.

While I can't say I fully comprehend the appeal of paying $6 for a coin whose value is quite literally only 50 cents (not that I know anyone who did that today, ahem), I guess I can understand the desire to collect pretty, shiny things, whatever they may be. Who knows? Maybe I'll start up a collection of my own: low-denomination bills from countries with poor exchange rates and an artistic eye.