Piece of eight was a name for the Spanish peso, which corresponded to the American dollar (see Peso). It was so named because it was worth 8 reals and once had an 8 stamped on it.
The piece of eight was sometimes cut into pie-shaped smaller denominations called bits. The most popular size was the quarter, called two bits. The United States quarter is sometimes called two bits today. The piece of eight was used when pirate activity was widespread. The coin figures in many pirate stories, including Treasure Island.
