Stephenson:Neal:Quicksilver:10:D.G. HISPAN ET IND REX (Alan Sinder)

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

As Enoch ponders about the universal currency of the new 18th century -- he examines a "Spanish" silver coin marked "D.G. HISPAN ET IND REX" (Deo gratia Hispaniae et Indiarum Rex, "By the grace of God, king of Spain and the Indies") that he identifies as "a piece of eight." Universal currency was 'octal' and as such the Piece of Eight was clearly marked with the number "8" -- and for a while even the U.S. Dollar would have 8 pie slices. "2 bits" was a quarter to the parents of the "Baby Boomers." Therefore, the coin fingered by Enoch was an 8 reale coin cut in half.