Pieces of Eight: American's Earliest Money

This is the intriguing story of the Spanish mill dollar, the most important means of money exchange in the New World. Western actor Fess Parker leads you through 300 years of history, from Cortez' landing in the New World to the ups and downs of the struggling new nation and the modern day stock exchange. Learn what coin George Washington threw across the Rappahannock River; why the stock exchange trades in "eight" even today; why colonial money was backed by pirates' booty; early minting methods; what it means to bet a "fair shake: or " get clipped," why an American war was backed by pirate and Spanish loot; why a quarter is known as "two bits"; the designing of our earliest American money; and much more.