It's been a long, long time since I've heard anyone call a quarter 2 bits, 4 bits how about you? I wonder when people stopped using that term, anyone know? Here's a Token I just bought, top pics are the sellers but they were poorly shot, so I snagged another pic off the bay. I think it was the late 1960's when I last heard someone say 2 bits but maybe in other areas or States it's still used, idk. "The origin of bit comes from the practice of cutting the Spanish dollar (peso) into eight radial pieces to make change. ... 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."
I would clarify there was not an official US coin valued at 12.5 cents. There were, however, in colonial times one bits that circulated. I have a couple laying around somewhere. That idea created the one reales coin minted later under Spanish authorities, so really one reales coins are one bit. The one bit, or one reales, circulated widely in the early US up until around 1857 I believe.
2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar, all for XYZ stand up and howler. When I was young it was more common to hear someone ask for 2 bits than it was for a quarter.
Actually, years ago when I discovered that the term two bits derived from the coinage that our colonial ancestors used, I latched on to it and have called a quarter two bits most of my life. I do often get quizzical looks but that only opens the door to talk about coins!
I seem to remember it in an episode or two from Looney Tunes. Maybe Bugs Bunny said it at least once. And the secret door knock. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shave_and_a_Haircut
Well, yes, which is why I post this April Fools' Day gag every so often: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/wtt-1842-2-reales-ngc-vg-10.378206/#post-7346225
