Where did the expression 2 bits come from? How does that = 25 cents ?

Answer 1

From the link below:

"Two bits is equal to 25 cents; they are counting in four equal parts of a dollar ending at a dollar, rather than ending on "eight bits".

"Listening to America" by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982) has some detailed about "bits": ".Being worth one-eighth of a Spanish peso or Spanish dollar, the original Spanish 'real' or 'bit' was worth 12 ½ cents. Not only was this bit itself a coin, but the peso could be cut into halves, quarters or pie-shaped wedges of eights, so a bit was both a coin and a cut-off section of a peso worth the same amount. This 'bit,' being 12 ½ cents, gave us our term 'two bits' (1730, originally as two separate bits or the sum of 25 cents, then as our own 25-cent coin in 1792)."

Answer 2

In Old West days of the U.S. , a "bit " was worth 12 and a half cents. So "2 Bits" equals a quarter, or 25 cents.

Answer 3

In the 19th century, 25 cents was 2 bits. Half of that was 1 bit.

Answer 4

They used to cut gold coins into 8 parts. Two bits was 1/4 of the coing. So two bits = a quarter.

Answer 5

it's very piratical; some coin or other (I think it was Spanish) could be divided into 8 pieces or "bits". That's where the term "pieces of 8" comes from. That division carried through to other coins, so a quarter is 2/8ths of a dollar, or two bits.

Answer 6

In the colonies when the value of a dollar really meant some thing some folks would actually snip off bits of the dollar coin and because it was made of gold or silver it had real intrinsic value, two of these bits equaled a quarter of a dollar.

Answer 7

Long ago , the main currency was the Spanish Dubuloon... ( I doubt i spelled it right ) Made of gold, it was often cut up , in American waterfront taverns to pay for drinks , etc. Typically, it was cut into the
" Pieces of Eight " of Pirate lore... Two pieces , or " Bits " were a common price for a bottle of rum ..

Answer 8

In the early days America did not have its own coinage and they used whatever money they could find, mostly Spanish gold coins.
If you wante to pay for something that didn't cost a whole coin you could cut the coin in four pieces called "bits

Answer 9

You don't watch enough pirate movies.. Or does having me tell you about pieces of eight jog your memory.. I bought an old piece of eight at a coin store. Every sailor ought to have at least one... Thanks for the fun question..

Answer 10

"shave and a haircut...two bits"