It comes from...

The Spanish dollar or peso which was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497

The peso had a nominal value of eight reales ("royals"). The coins were often physically cut into eight "bits", or sometimes four quarters, to make smaller change. This is the origin of the colloquial name "pieces of eight" for the coin, and of "quarter" and "two bits" for twenty-five cents in the United States.

Long tied to the lore of piracy, "pieces of eight" were manufactured in the Americas and transported in bulk back to Spain (to pay for wars and various other things), making them a very tempting target for seagoing pirates. Some pirates were among the richest people in the world. The Manila Galleon transported Mexican silver to Manila, where it would be exchanged for Chinese goods, since silver was the only foreign commodity China would take. In oriental trade, Spanish dollars were often stamped with Chinese characters known as "chop marks" which indicate that that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined genuine.

(See also "Treasure Island")

Posted By: duckandchips on December 15th 2006 at 15:15:32

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