I collect coins of everywhere I go. Not for the numismatic value, but for the history they tell. I wonder the places they've been, and the dreams of people that owned them. I painted these two aesthetically pleasing Soviet coins (that I brought to the USA when I immigrated), in the light of a beautiful cliffside San Diego sunset in 2011.

These coins made quite the fifty year journey. The revenue these coins produced in circulation may have indirectly helped pay down the debt for the construction of the Berlin Wall, an ambitiously evil project that began in 1961. It was proof that walls work very well to divide people, and again proved that the urge to do so starts with people's ideological outlook on money.

In another fifty years, younger people like me may derive enjoyment from viewing the chain of custody of this token and reminisce like I did with these Soviet ones. Hopefully, they will appreciate what it took to ensure their freedom was protected. Or maybe the Marxists really will win after all, and political prisoners will be tortured in gulags by having to repeat slogans about the failure of crypto. There are no guarantees in life.

This painting was made on 24"x36" canvas and you can see the rich texture zoomed in.