Quote (impulse155 @ 23 Nov 2013 18:16)
Why are they so high? My brother was given 37 of them when they were 50-80 cents a pop
Basically struck gold
A certain website dealing in illegal materials was taken down by the US gov. This caused Bitcoin values to drop significantly. Since the site has gone down other sites offering similar services rushedto fill the gap and when the original site came back up this caused Bitcoins to be worth even more. Also the growing awareness of such sites and bitcoins as a means of anonymously purchasing such goods or services means that they are steadily becoming a more essential currency.
To answer the OP's question, it is possible to acquire partial bitcoins. They are a digital currency so they aren't divided into any particular fractions. You can own 0.000000001 of a bitcoin if you want or 0.03756673. It makes no difference.