Numismatic definitions
Like most fields of expertise, numismatics has its own lingo. Find the numismatic definition of a term by entering it in the field below.
Bit
Term denoting fragments of large silver coins, cut up and circulating as fractional values. Spanish dollars were frequently broken up for circulation in the American colonies and the West Indies. Long bits and short bits circulated at 15 and 10 cents respectively, but the term came to be equated with the Spanish real or eighth of a peso, hence the American colloquialism 'two-bit' signifying a quarter dollar.
