What the $.02 is?

[Richard Smith]

David Xiong wrote:

> Hi,guys!I am on the list for a while.But what is the $.02?
> 

It's short hand for the phrase "My two cents" and basically means my 
opinion on the subject.

I also found the following after doing a little web research:

Many years ago, the United States used gold and silver coins as a common 
currency. The value of the coin would be equal to the value of the gold 
or silver contained in the coin.

Occasionally, an individual would have to pay in increments smaller than 
the coin's denominations.

In this case, the occasion is a person's "ante" in a poker game, which 
was roughly 25 cents.

The gold and silver coins would be split into halfs, quarters and 
eighths. The eighths of a coin piece was referred to as a "piece of 
eight" or a "bit".

Hence, one's "two bits", as the orignal phrase went, were their ante in 
a game of poker; their contribution in order to play the game.


-- 
Richard A. Smith
rsmith at bitworks.com