A money bag (or money sack) is a bag normally used to hold and transport coins and banknotes, often closed with a drawstring.Fallen money bag sparks Ohio cash grab
BBC News, 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. 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 band ...

. 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, Judas Iscariot 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 was camped in Zeugma, a city of Commagene (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 Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, 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 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, an annual assembly of scholars held in Kerala, India. In 16th century feudal Japan, samurai wore '' uchi-bukuro'' (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 and blocked his trachea. The tracheotomy allowed the surgeon to manipulate the bag, and it passed through his system. In September 1864, Rose O'Neal Greenhow, 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

A wealthy person can have the nickname "moneybag" (or "moneybags").

Marcus Licinius Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, I ...

(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 Du ...

("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 (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) is a fictional character in the 1915 Charlie Chaplin silent comedy film ''

The Count Count (or Countess) is a title of nobility. Count or The Count may also refer to: People ''Used as a nickname, not denoting nobility'' Music * The Count, a performance name for English deejay Hervé * Count Basie (1904–1984), American jazz mus ...

''. James Edward "Baron of Edgerton" Hanson's (1922–2004) billion-dollar empire earned him the nickname "Lord Moneybags". Another fictional character, Victor Newman (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 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 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 Kubera ( sa, कुबेर, translit=Kuberā) also known as Kuvera, Kuber and Kuberan, is the god of wealth, and the god-king of the semi-divine yakshas in Hinduism. He is regarded as Guardians of the directions, the regent of the north (' ...

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

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

. Lugus, 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 Hugh of Saint Victor ( 1096 – 11 February 1141), was a Saxon canon regular and a leading theologian and writer on mystical theology. Life As with many medieval figures, little is known about Hugh's early life. He was probably born in the 1090s ...

's ''Chronicas preface 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 published a cartoon about reaction to the

Boydell Shakespeare Gallery The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in London, England, was the first stage of a three-part project initiated in November 1786 by engraver and publisher John Boydell in an effort to foster a school of British history painting. In addition to the e ...

labelled "Boydell sacrificing the Works of Shakespeare to the Devil of Money-Bags". * '' The Apotheosis of Washington'' (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 $2 bill shows an allegorical 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 * 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 Black Book, Black book or Blackbook may refer to: Film * ''Black Book'' (film), a 2006 Dutch thriller film by director Paul Verhoeven ** ''Black Book'' (soundtrack), soundtrack of the 2006 film * ''The Black Book'' (serial), a 1929 American ...

'' (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 Thai money bag ( th, ถุงทอง (''thung thong'') – 'golden bags', ) is a traditional Thai cuisine, Thai savory Hors d'oeuvre, appetizer. They are part of the Thai royal cuisine. People usually give ''thung thong'' during the Thai new ...

(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 ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' 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 Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

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 from recycled decommissioned US mint money bags.

In games

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

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

. In board games like '' Dungeon!'' (1975) a money bag is a treasure card, in '' Talisman'' (1983) as a card, and in '' Monopoly'' 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'' has a pricing game called "Balance Game". Video games such as '' Lock 'n' Chase'' (1981), '' Bagman'' (1982), '' Pitfall!'' (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 is an action game originally published in arcades by Konami in 1984. The player controls a circus clown named Charlie in six different circus-themed minigames. It was released for MSX in the same year, followed by ports to the Famicom in 1986 ...

'' (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 A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

'' (1985), '' Arm Wrestling'' (1985), the ''

Castlevania ''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula (Castlevania), Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early system ...

'' series (1986-2010+),''Castlevania''
Mr. P's Castlevania Realm (hosted at

The Video Game Museum ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, 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''.

References

External links