History Main / AMacguffinFullOfMoney

* [[MacGuffinTitle The eponymous treasure of Gold Roger]] in ''Main/OnePiece'' is very much a MacGuffin. Of course, while everyone ''assumes'' it's a vast fortune, the exact nature of it is arguably the greatest mystery in the series. It's merely the prestige of having been the only one since Roger to make it to the end of the world that will make whoever finds it the pirate king. In all likelihood, the actual ''treasure'' (as in silver and gold and all) aspect of the One Piece is probably rather not much. Speculations on what it could be range from a single piece of eight (It is ONE piece, after all) to a one piece bathing suit that Roger was fond of.

* The Scapular with supposedly reveals the secret hiding place of the Treasure of Literature/TheBlackCoats

* In the first ''RyuGaGotoku'' (known as ''Yakuza'' in the West), 10 Billion Yen disappears from the Tojo Clan's vault, sending Tokyo teetering on the brink of open gang warfare as everyone hunts down the missing money.

->'''Kasper Gutman:''' Mr. Spade, have you any conception of how much money can be got for that black bird?
->'''Sam Spade''': No.
->'''Kasper Gutman:''' Well, Sir, if I told you, if I told you ''half'', you'd call me a liar.

->Mr. Spade, have you any conception of how much money can be got for that black bird?
->No.
->Well, sir, if I told you, if I told you half, you'd call me a liar.
-->-- Film/TheMalteseFalcon

* This is the basis of several [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers CoenBrothers]] films including ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'', ''Film/{{Fargo}}'', ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' and ''Film/BloodSimple''. Although in ''Lebowski'''s case [[spoiler: the briefcase was actually full of phone books from the beginning, and the money had already been embezzled.]]

* ''ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' has the characters spend much of the early part of the movie gradually progressing from "let's be reasonable" to "screw it, every man for himself" regarding the location of a cache they discover in the opening minutes.

* ''[[OceansEleven Ocean's Eleven]]'' uses this, though it differs from most Thief Caper films in that it was very ''[[ItsPersonal specific]]'' money.
* ''RatRace'' makes pure use of this trope. The object of the whole film is to be the first to reach and open a briefcase with two million dollars in it.
* ''DumbAndDumber'' centers around the protagonists trying to return a briefcase full of ransom money, which they picked up in the belief it was left behind by mistake. [[spoiler:Once they spend it all on luxuries, it becomes a briefcase full of [=IOUs=] instead - and they can't understand why the bad guys won't accept those, since they're practically the same thing.]]
* ''{{Millions}}'' is about a 7-year-old boy who finds a duffel bag full of money, and what he and his brother do with it.
* This is the basis of several [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers CoenBrothers]] films including ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'', ''{{Fargo}}'', ''TheBigLebowski'' and ''BloodSimple''. Although in ''Lebowski'''s case [[spoiler: the briefcase was actually full of phone books from the beginning, and the money had already been embezzled.]]
* The NaziGold in ''KellysHeroes''.
* The suitcase full of cash in ''ShallowGrave''. The film is about a group of friends trying to cover up an accidental death in their apartment so they can keep said money.
* TheMalteseFalcon looks like an ordinary statue, but only a few people know that it holds gems under its skin.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Hitman}} Annual'' #1, the MacGuffin is a coffin full of dollars. The story title? [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "A Coffin Full of Dollars"]].

** In the end, it's still valuable, but because [[spoiler: it's actually the "body" (read: power) of a god in metallic form, and the BigBad (the god it was essentially scooped out of) wants to re-ingest it to get himself back to full strength]].

* ''VideoGame/FallOut2'' features a treasure that's stuck down in a well - a load of cash! After buttering up the ghoul that buried it for its location and hiring a treasure hunter to help find it, the Chosen One gets their hands on [[spoiler:10,000 bottlecaps - which was an incredibly valuable treasure about 80 years ago while bottlecaps were legal tender, but became worthless when enough technology was restored to make new caps - forcing the NCR to re-open a number of [[GoldSilverCopperStandard gold mines]]. Hope the Chosen One held onto them, as Caesar's Legion blew those mines up just a few years later, forcing people back to bottle caps again.]]

* ''VideoGame/FallOut2'' features a treasure that's stuck down in a well - a load of cash! After buttering up the ghoul that buried it for its location and hiring a treasure hunter to help find it, the Chosen One gets their hands on [[spoiler:10,000 bottlecaps - which was an incredibly valuable treasure about 80 years ago while bottlecaps were legal tender, but worthless now that towns have started printing money again.]]

* ''Fallout2'' features a treasure that's stuck down in a well - a load of cash! After buttering up the ghoul that buried it for its location and hiring a treasure hunter to help find it, the Chosen One gets their hands on [[spoiler:10,000 bottlecaps - which was an incredibly valuable treasure about 80 years ago while bottlecaps were legal tender, but worthless now that towns have started printing money again.]]

* This is the basis of several CoenBrothers films including ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'', ''{{Fargo}}'', ''TheBigLebowski'' and ''BloodSimple''. Although in ''Lebowski'''s case [[spoiler: the briefcase was actually full of phone books from the beginning, and the money had already been embezzled.]]

-->-- [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon]]

* The Scapular with supposedly reveals the secret hiding place of the Treasure of TheBlackCoats
* In ''TheTwelveChairs'', the MacGuffin is a chair stuffed with diamond jewelry. To make things worse, there are the [[GottaCatchThemAll other eleven]], which look the same.
* Subverted (kinda) in the ''{{Mistborn}}'' Trilogy. The atium cache is initially desired for its monetary value, but when they finally find it near the end of the last book, [[spoiler:money of any sort is kind of worthless...]]

* A minor example in ''TheStormlightArchive''. Each battle of the Shattered Plains (though not the war as a whole) is driven by the appearance of chasmfiend pupae, each of which contain an enormous gemstone. A "gemheart" represents a staggering amount of money, enough to fund an army for months, and also provides the gems that are used to magic up food for said armies.

* An old ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse comic involves Donald knocking loose a concrete egg and discovering that the thing's actually filled with money. After cracking it open with a wrecking ball, he finds out it belongs to Uncle Scrooge, and he kept it around in case of emergency. [[IncrediblyLamePun Yes, it was his nest egg.]]

* An old DonaldDuck comic involves Donald knocking loose a concrete egg and discovering that the thing's actually filled with money. After cracking it open with a wrecking ball, he finds out it belongs to Uncle Scrooge, and he kept it around in case of emergency. [[IncrediblyLamePun Yes, it was his nest egg.]]

* An old DonaldDuck comic involves Donald knocking loose a concrete egg and discovering that the thing's actually filled with money. After cracking it open with a wrecking ball, he finds out it belongs to Uncle Scrooge, -and he kept it around in case of emergency. [[IncrediblyLamePun Yes, it was his nest egg.]]

* This is the basis of several CoenBrothers films including ''NoCountryForOldMen'', ''{{Fargo}}'', ''TheBigLebowski'' and ''BloodSimple''. Although in ''Lebowski'''s case [[spoiler: the briefcase was actually full of phone books from the beginning, and the money had already been embezzled.]]

* This was the [=MacGuffin=] used to drive the action in ''NoCountryForOldMen''. At a few points, characters end up needing to spend some of it after getting themselves in a tight spot.