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Keeping the ball rolling from pacoverflow's post here, I've written a similar riddle. Never having done this before, I hope I've managed to strike a balance between being too easy and being impossibly difficult to anyone other than me! 

Owned by millions, seen by all,
Borne by some, and used by most.
Be careful you don't blow it all,
When it's your turn to make a toast.

By day it gleams if you take heed,
At nighttime, cold as morning dew.
Although it may seem hard to read,
Its countenance is clear to you.

Salute with it, it will surpass,
A bow to temper, or a kneel.
Now hearing many forms, at last,
Its true identity reveal.
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Glass?

Owned by millions, seen by all, Borne by some, and used by most.

Needless to comment

Be careful you don't blow it all, When it's your turn to make a toast.

We toast with a glass in hand... And it happened before (to me too) that a powerful toast would crash the glass

By day it gleams if you take heed, At nighttime, cold as morning dew.

Again needless to say...

Although it may seem hard to read, Its countenance is clear to you.

We uses glasses to read when it gets hard to do it

Salute with it, it will surpass, A bow to temper, or a kneel.

Glass "bows" and "kneels" to high temperatures ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toughened_glass )

Now hearing many forms, at last, Its true identity reveal.

Can be shaped into many forms

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm not English, however, I guess "temper" and "temperature" are not related? $\endgroup$ – Avigrail Nov 13 '14 at 8:08
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    $\begingroup$ Added a wiki link explaining what I meant... by the way you find it "tempered" but not "toughened" $\endgroup$ – Noldor130884 Nov 13 '14 at 8:14
  • $\begingroup$ I see and you were right. Thanks for sharing! $\endgroup$ – Avigrail Nov 13 '14 at 8:16
  • $\begingroup$ "Salute with it" - like "cheers!" (when drinking) maybe? $\endgroup$ – d'alar'cop Nov 13 '14 at 10:48
  • $\begingroup$ Bingo! This is the answer I was looking for! I'll post a comment with a couple more details, but you put it together very well! Congrats! $\endgroup$ – Apd1 Nov 13 '14 at 14:48
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I thought about it for some minutes. And it seems to fit all the clues. How about

Money

For sure it will go away and you can blow it all at once. Created by some, used by most, and so on...

Coins

can be hard to read but you know their value. At night they will feel cold due to their material.

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It's

respect

Owned by millions, seen by all,

Many people are respected (I don't have actual figures but 1 in 1000 is still more than 7 million) It is easy to recognize these people.

Borne by some, and used by most.

Not everyone has (bears) respectability, but you don't have to own it to use it.

Be careful you don't blow it all, When it's your turn to make a toast.

Toasts are used to give people honor (i.e. respect), but using to much can seem insincere ("[and you] blow it all").

By day it gleams if you take heed,

If there are people around ("By day") and they pay ("take heed") proper respect, it will gleam (light is often used as an analogy of justice/righteousness).

At nighttime, cold as morning dew.

When you are alone ("At nighttime") respect is useless, "cold" if you will.

Although it may seem hard to read, Its countenance is clear to you.

It isn't always clear if you have it ("hard to read"), but you support or approve it either way ("countenance").

Salute with it, it will surpass,

Salute according to Google: "a gesture of respect or polite recognition, especially one made to or by a person when arriving or departing." When you use respect as often as you can (from arriving to departing), people will also be respectful to you. The net amount of respect will be greater than before ("it will surpass").

A bow to temper, or a kneel.

A bow or kneel are both signs of honor. When you use respect you moderate ("temper") yourself.

Now hearing many forms, at last, Its true identity reveal.

Some people are respected by some and hated (or not-so-respected) by others ("many forms"). When you hear why, the real respectability ("its true identity") will be apparent.

I'm not sure if I'm right, but I hope the effort will find some appreciation, or respect if you will ;)

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  • $\begingroup$ You know, you really gave this a lot of thought. It wasn't what I had in mind, but have an upvote anyway :-) $\endgroup$ – Apd1 Nov 13 '14 at 18:19
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The correct answer has been posted here by @Noldor130884! This post will just clarify some of my thinking. Comments on this riddle are welcome so I can improve the next one!

A couple of additions to Noldor's (awesome) explanation:

Be careful you don't blow it all

Also refers to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glassblowing

Its countenance is clear to you.

Also, it is literally clear (to look at)

Salute with it, it will surpass / A bow to temper, or a kneel.

"Cheers", as @d'alar'cop mentioned. Take a drink with someone, it's a better way of 'tempering' them than bowing or kneeling... but I was really trying to work in temper and anneal :-)

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  • $\begingroup$ I like that you used the word in different ways. As a glass to drink and the material itself. Good job here! $\endgroup$ – Avigrail Nov 13 '14 at 16:01
  • $\begingroup$ Attention all riddlers! Vote! :-) $\endgroup$ – Rand al'Thor Dec 15 '14 at 18:06
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Gun?
It fits well in the first and third paragraphs. Gun salutes are considered an ultimate from of salute. It's less obvious in the second paragraph, but, being metal objects, guns are cold at night, they gleam in the day and their countenance is clear.

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