Buying,That will be two bits please sir.
Pieces of eight came from one single coin.
Local single hander yachtsman,Justin,asks what the term Two Bits means,was it those large mooring bollards we see on the dock side with large Dolly Parton things projections,well I found this for now.
Roy
Word Origins:
Where did the Term "Two Bits" Come From?
During the colonial days, people used coins from all over the world. The most commonly used coin was the Spanish milled dollar. When our nation adopted an official currency, the Spanish Milled Dollar was chosen, and it later became the model for American silver dollars.
"That will be two bits, sir."
The Spanish milled dollars were easily cut apart into equal "bits" of 8 pieces. One "bit" would be equal to 1/8 of a dollar, and 2 bits would equal 2/8 (or 1/4 - a quarter of a dollar). So, it is easy to see why the coins were called "pieces of eight", and "2 bits" was commonly used to refer to 25 cents.
Assignment: Get your copy of The Desert Trail or The Hi Desert Star. Find some ads for common items. Select 10 items, and create a new ad using prices in "pieces of eight". For example, bananas at 49 cents a pound would be 4 bits a pound. (You will need to round!).
Click below to go back to Word Origins
http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/twobits.html
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