A money bag (or money sack) is a bag normally used to hold and transport

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

s and

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

s, often closed with a

drawstring A drawstring (draw string, draw-string) is a string, cord, lace, or rope used to " draw" (gather, or shorten) fabric or other material. Ends of a drawstring are often terminated with a sheath called an aglet. The ends may be tied to hold the d ...

.Fallen money bag sparks Ohio cash grab

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 25 March 2010 (retrieved 10 January 2012) When transported between banks and other institutions, money bags are usually moved in an armored car or a

money train A money train is one or more railcars used to collect cash fare revenue from stations on a subway system and return it to a central location for processing. This train was typically used to carry money bags guarded by transit police to deter ...

. It is a type of

currency packaging Currency packaging includes several forms of packing cash for easy handling and counting. Many systems use standard color-coding or are marked to indicate the amount in the package. Currency straps Currency straps, also known as currency ban ...

. The money bag has had great success in cartoons and other light popular culture.

History

According to the account given in the Bible's

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...

carried the disciples' money bag. During the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

, the

Legio IV Scythica Legio was a Roman military camp south of Tel Megiddo in the Roman province of Galilee. History Following the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136CE), Legio VI Ferrata was stationed at Legio near Caparcotna. The approximate location of the camp of the Leg ...

was camped in Zeugma, a city of

Commagene Commagene ( grc-gre, Κομμαγηνή) was an ancient Greco-Iranian kingdom ruled by a Hellenized branch of the Iranian Orontid dynasty that had ruled over Armenia. The kingdom was located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which s ...

(modern-day Turkey). Excavations carried out in the city have revealed 65,000 seal imprints in clay, known as ''bullae'', found in a place which is believed to have served as the archives for the customs of Zeugma. The seal imprints used in sealing papyrus, parchment, moneybags, and customs bales are good indications of the volume of trade and the density of transportation and communication networks once established in the region. Charon's obols, a death custom originating in ancient Greece whereby a coin is placed with a corpse, from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD in Western Europe, were often found in pouches, making them money pouches. From the Middle Ages to around 1900,

Rottweiler The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered mea ...

dogs were used by travelling butchers at markets to guard money pouches tied around their necks. Beginning in the 14th century, purses of money (''panakizhi'') were awarded to scholars during the

Revathi Pattathanam Revathi Pattathanam is an annual assembly of scholars held since ancient times at Kozhikode in Kerala, India. Traditionally a seven-day event, the festival used to be held under the patronage of the Zamorin of Kozhikode. The prime event of the ass ...

, an annual assembly of scholars held in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India. In 16th century feudal Japan, samurai wore ''

uchi-bukuro ''Uchi-bukuro'' is a type of Japanese attire employed by the samurai class primarily around the Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengo ...

'' (money purses) around the waist or neck. In 1620, pediatric tracheotomy was unheard of until a boy tried to hide a bag of gold by swallowing it. It became lodged in his

esophagus The esophagus ( American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to ...

and blocked his

trachea The trachea, also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all air- breathing animals with lungs. The trachea extends from the ...

. The tracheotomy allowed the surgeon to manipulate the bag, and it passed through his system. In September 1864,

Rose O'Neal Greenhow Rose O'Neal Greenhow (1813– October 1, 1864) was a renowned Confederate spy during the American Civil War. A socialite in Washington, D.C., during the period before the war, she moved in important political circles and cultivated friendsh ...

, a Confederate agent, drowned with a bag of gold around her neck after leaving the ''Condor'' (a British blockade runner ship) in a boat.

Nickname

wealth Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...

y person can have the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"moneybag" (or "moneybags"). Marcus Licinius Crassus (c. 115-53 BC), a leading Roman politician in his day, was known in Rome as '' Dives'', meaning "The Rich" or "Moneybags".

Ivan I of Moscow Iván I Danilovich Kalitá (Russian: Ива́н I Данилович Калита́; 1 November 1288 – 31 March 1340 or 1341Basil Dmytryshyn, ''Medieval Russia:A source book, 850-1700'', (Academic International Press, 2000), 194.) was Grand D ...

("Ivan the Moneybag") was a Russian Grand Duke of Moscow from 1328-1341 who was famous for being generous with his wealth. American Cardinal

Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York; he had previously served as an auxiliary ...

(1889–1967) was sometimes called "Cardinal Moneybags" in his later life, while Chicago mobster and racketeer

Murray Humphreys Murray Humphreys (born Llewellyn Morris Humphreys; April 20, 1899 – November 23, 1965) (also known as The Camel or The Hump), was a Chicago mobster of Welsh descent who was the chief political fixer and labor racketeer, beginning during t ...

(1899–1965) was referred to as "Mr. Moneybags" by his friends. Miss Moneybags (played by

Edna Purviance Olga Edna Purviance (; October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with hi ...

) is a fictional character in the 1915 Charlie Chaplin silent comedy film '' The Count''. James Edward "Baron of Edgerton" Hanson's (1922–2004) billion-dollar empire earned him the nickname "Lord Moneybags". Another fictional character,

Victor Newman Victor Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless''. He has been portrayed by Eric Braeden since 1980. Initially a guest character who was to last for eight to twelve weeks, Victor has evolved ...

(Eric Braeden) of ''The Young and the Restless'' soap opera, has also been called "Moneybags".

In popular culture

PostcardToCanadaForInvestmentInCanada1907

Money bags have been represented in art and culture throughout human history, including paintings, literature, film, television, games, and even food. * A leno, a theatre of ancient Rome stock character (1st century BC to 5th century AD), is often depicted carrying a money bag. *

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

sculpture (c.10th-11th centuries AD) shows various Jain gods ( Yaksa Sarvanubhuti) and/or their attendants/servants, holding money bags (''chowrie'', ''noli''),''Jaina-Rup̄a-Manḍạna, Volume 1''
Umakant Premanand Shah, Abhinav Publications, 1987, pp. 48,73,116,121-2,124,156,219,220,233,326 at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

purses (''nakulika''), or "purse-like objects" Buddhist (

Pañcika Pañcika () is a yaksha and consort of Hārītī, with whom he is said to have fathered 500 children. According to the '' Mahavamsa'', Pañcika was the commander-in-chief of the yakṣa army of Vaiśravaṇa and had another 27 yakṣa general ...

and

Vaiśravaṇa (Sanskrit: वैश्रवण) or (Pali; , , ja, 毘沙門天, Bishamonten, ko, 비사문천, Bisamuncheon, vi, Đa Văn Thiên Vương), is one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and is considered an important figure in Buddhism. Names The n ...

/Jambhala) and Hindu ( Kubera) deities/gods/goddesses have money bags (or purses or their equivalent--"bag/sheath of jewels", etc.) as part of their iconography.

Lugus Lugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from place names and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gall ...

, another god worshipped by Celtic people and identified with Mercury, the Roman god of commerce (Gaulish Mercury, in particular), is depicted carrying a money bag. * Around 1130, Hugh of St. Victor's ''Chronicas

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often close ...

refers to a money bag ('' sacculus'' or ''sacculum'' in Latin), with its compartments, as a memory training analogy. * '' The Conjurer'', a c. 1502 painting by Hieronymus Bosch, features a child stealing a money purse from a bespectacled character. National-Debt-Gillray

* Around 1791,

James Gillray James Gillray (13 August 1756Gillray, James and Draper Hill (1966). ''Fashionable contrasts''. Phaidon. p. 8.Baptism register for Fetter Lane (Moravian) confirms birth as 13 August 1756, baptism 17 August 1756 1June 1815) was a British caricatur ...

published a cartoon about reaction to the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery labelled "Boydell sacrificing the Works of Shakespeare to the Devil of Money-Bags". * ''

The Apotheosis of Washington ''The Apotheosis of Washington'' is the fresco painted by Greek-Italian artist Constantino Brumidi in 1865 and visible through the oculus of the dome in the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building. The fresco is suspended above the ro ...

'' (1865), a fresco in the dome in the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building that contains a commerce scene with the Roman god Mercury holding a bag of gold. * The obverse 1896 US

Educational Series "Educational Series" is the informal name used by numismatists to refer to a series of United States silver certificates produced by the U.S. Treasury in 1896, after its Bureau of Engraving and Printing chief Claude M. Johnson ordered a new curre ...

$2 bill shows an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

figure of Commerce who has a bag of money next to her, making it a picture of a bag of money on real money. * ''A Bag of Gold'' (1915), film starring

Sidney Ainsworth Sidney Ainsworth (born Charles Sydney Ainsworth, often credited as Sydney Ainsworth; December 21, 1872 – May 21, 1922), was a screen and stage actor who appeared in his first movie in 1909. He was born in Manchester, England and died in Madison, ...

* In 1974,

Herb Block Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock (October13, 1909October7, 2001), was an American editorial cartoonist and author best known for his commentaries on national domestic and foreign policy. During the course of a career stretchi ...

produced ''Herblock Special Report'', a book of political cartoons and text about Richard Nixon with some cartoons featuring money bags. * ''Money for Nothing'' (1993), comedy/crime film about Joey Coyle (John Cusack) who finds $1.2 million dollars in a bag in the middle of the street after it falls out of the back of an armored car * '' The Black Book'' (1993), crime novel by Ian Rankin about "Operation Moneybags", a police investigation aimed at putting a money-lender out of business * ''29 Palms'' (2002), direct-to-video film about a bag of money that affects the characters who possess it * Thai money bag (tung tong, or toong tong, ถุงทอง), a small, crispy, deep-fried pastry purse haped like a money bagwith various filling (circa unknown) * In the '' South Park'' in episode "

Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" is the eighth episode in the ninth season of the American animated television series '' South Park''. The 133rd episode overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 19, 200 ...

" (2005), a typically- antisemitic Cartman tries to stop Kyle at gunpoint, demanding the latter give up his bag of "Jew gold". It turns out that Kyle not only has a bag of gold (which he wears round his neck at all times), but a decoy bag as well. * Dean Accessories makes a

handbag A handbag, commonly known as a purse or pocketbook in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items. Purse, handbag or pouch The term "purse" originally referred to a small bag for holding coins. In man ...

from

recycle Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

d decommissioned US mint money bags.

In games

In various games, money bags (or bags of gold) tend to be used to represent

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions le ...

or points. In

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

s like ''

Dungeon! ''Dungeon!'' is an adventure board game designed by David R. Megarry and first released by TSR, Inc. in 1975. Additional contributions through multiple editions were made by Gary Gygax, Steve Winter, Jeff Grubb, Chris Dupuis and Michael Gray. ...

'' (1975) a money bag is a treasure card, in ''

Talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

'' (1983) as a card, and in ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

'' as a pawn/piece introduced in 1999. The 1976 television game show '' Break the Bank'' had a money bag as a space and ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

'' has a pricing game called "Balance Game".

Video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s such as '' Lock 'n' Chase'' (1981), ''

Bagman The term bagman (or bag man) has different meanings in different countries. One group of definitions centers on the idea of traveling. In British usage, "bagman" is a term for a traveling salesman, first known from 1808. In Australian usage, ...

'' (1982), ''

Pitfall! ''Pitfall!'' is a platform video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released by Activision in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and is tasked with collecting all the treasures in a jungle within 20 minutes. The world con ...

'' (1982), ''

Bank Panic A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe the bank may cease to function in the near future. In other words, it is when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks no ...

'' (1984), '' Circus Charlie'' (1984), ''

Gunfright ''Gunfright'' is an action-adventure game developed by Ultimate Play the Game and published by U.S. Gold. It was first released for the ZX Spectrum in December 1985, then released for Amstrad CPC and the MSX the following year. The player tak ...

'' (1985), '' Roller Coaster'' (1985), ''

Arm Wrestling Arm wrestling (also spelled armwrestling) is a sport with two opponents who face each other with their bent elbows placed on a table and hands firmly gripped, who then attempt to force the opponent's hand down to the table top ("pin" them). The s ...

'' (1985), the '' Castlevania'' series (1986-2010+),''Castlevania''
Mr. P's Castlevania Realm (hosted at The Video Game Museum, retrieved 12 August 2010) and '' Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood'' (2002) have money bags (or bags of gold) in them. As video game characters, Moneybags is a character in the ''Spyro the Dragon'' series and a boss named Moneybags in ''

Dual Hearts is a platforming action-adventure game for the PlayStation 2, released in 2002. In the United States it was released by Atlus. Story The plot begins with a treasure hunter named Rumble learning about a treasure, the Dream Stone on Sonno Island ...

''.

References

External links

moneybag
at

The Free Dictionary ''The Free Dictionary'' is an American online dictionary and encyclopedia that aggregates information from various sources. Content The site cross-references the contents of ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', the '' ...