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    3. Origin of bits as in twobits & 4 bits
    Origin of bits as in twobits & 4 bits

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    0  Views: 323 Answers: 1 Posted: 13 years ago
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      The term persists colloquially in the United States as a holdover from colonial America when Spanish dollars minted in Mexico, Bolivia and other Spanish colonies were the widest circulating coin. Spanish dollars were deemed equivalent in value to a U.S. dollar. Thus, twenty-five cents was dubbed "two bits," as it was a quarter of a Spanish dollar. Because there was no one-bit coin, a dime (10c) was sometimes called a short bit and 15c a long bit.



      Even the New York Stock Exchange continued to list stock prices in eighths of a dollar until June 24, 1997 (at which time it started listing in sixteenths, but later going to decimals in 2001).

      13 years ago. Rating: 0
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