How many in a bit?

In the US, the bit is equal to 121⁄2 ¢. In the U.S., the "bit" as a designation for money dates from the colonial period, when the most common unit of currency used was the Spanish dollar, also known as "piece of eight", which was worth 8 Spanish silver reales. $ 1⁄8 or 1 silver real was 1 "bit".

What is a bit in a dollar?

“Up the voltage.” A bit is 1/8th of a dollar. The explanation I’ve always heard is that in the 1700s Spanish dollars were sometimes sliced up to create smaller demonination currency. So you cut a silver dollar in half, then halve the two halves, then repeat one more time to get eighths. These “pieces of eight” were also known as “bits”.

Why were two bits made from a quarter-dollar?

Getting back to our adage, two bits were made from a quarter-dollar. Saying something was not worth two bits was either a negotiating tactic or someone wanted to use a short bit to pay for an item. Like many adages that have origins in the 17th and 18th centuries, the reason for their existence has been lost with time.

How many bits are in a quarter dollar?

The most widely circulated of these was the piece of eight, which, when supplies of smaller denomination coins dwindled were chopped or cut into smaller pieces to make change. Thus, one eighth of eight-reales became one bit, one quarter two-bits–the equivalent of our present day quarter-dollar. One-half is four-bits and three quarters are six-bits.