Recently, the increasing diversity of computer use has extended far beyond the realms of the office.
What these acts said was that it was illegal to pay someone in anything other than coin of the realm.
Instead of giving the money, that is the normal coin of the realm, which is the phrase that everyone used then, they would give them a token, and this token might be metal, might be wood, might be cardboard.
Public opinion plays a vital in the political realm.