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It all goes back to the pirates' "pieces of eight" which referred to the Spanish dollar which was worth eight reils. The Spanish dollar was legal tender in the US until the mid-1800's. At the same time the American dollar was equivalent to 4 quarters. Change for a dollar was often made by breaking or cutting the Spanish dollar into its eight pieces or "bits". By simple math 1 quarter was worth two pieces of eight or two bits. Two bits was 50 cents, six were 75 cents.

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16y ago

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