History Main / BriefcaseFullOfMoney

* Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in ''BreakingBad'' sometimes have sums of money that would warrant a briefcase, but partly because they're inept (at least at the beginning) and partly because the sight of Pinkman, at least, carrying a briefcase would ''scream'' "drug money" to everyone who saw him, they usually use backpacks and duffle bags instead.

* In the first episode of ''Anime/TheBigO'', Roger Smith negotiates the release of R. Dorothy Wainright (whom he doesn't yet realize is an android) from Beck by bringing a briefcase full of money. Long story short, Roger activates the briefcase's remote control which disposes of the money.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Every ''TabletopGame/{{Continuum}}'' spanner starts their new life with a big stack of bills, usually in multiple briefcases. An exception in that the briefcase or briefcases almost never include the full amount of money, and the Moneychangers usually just provide the equivalent currency in credit or direct deposit. The briefcase is used just to make sure the point sinks in, and that spanners don't try something stupid.

* VideoGame/Left4Dead - The episode "The Passing", finding one of these (with some handguns too) in a bar is an EasterEgg. Depending on what character you're playing, you'll get a different reaction. Playing as [[ConMan Nick]], you'll get the quip "I like how this guy packs!". It also allows you to pick up a second pistol if you haven't already got one.

* Subverted in ''{{ComicBook/Kick-Ass}}'' when it's revealed [[spoiler:that Big Daddy was never actually a cop, made up everything about his past, and that the trunk he keeps with him is, in fact, full of old comics that he sells on the internet to fund his operations]].

->''"Thank you, [[TheMafia Fat Tony]]. However, in the future I would prefer a nondescript briefcase to the [[ThiefBag sack with a dollar sign on it]]."''

* In ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'' [[http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2012-01-16/comic/the-bookend-of-unimaginable-power/international-man-of-mercenary/ Janus]] hired a [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 squad of mercs]] and a clan of [[{{TMNT}} shinobi terrapins]] using briefcases of money, then because he'd gone over budget he next paid a gang of chavs two litres of white lightening and a carton of cigarettes.

* ''DumbAndDumber'' characters, Lloyd and Harry, travel to Aspen to deliver a Briefcase Full of Money to Mary Swanson, initially believing that it's merely forgotten luggage. When they do discover the money, they quickly spend all the money and fill the briefcase with [=IOUs=].

* In the 2009 film ''WesternAnimation/AstroBoy'' the robots open up a briefcase and are bathed in golden light, parodying ''PulpFiction'', but the suitcase merely contains a flashlight.

* ''{{Snatch}}'' features this as the stolen diamond is placed in an attache case secured by wire to Franky's arm. When Franky is captured by the Yardies, Boris the Blade asks for Franky and his case for 10 grand. When the Yardies say no deal, Boris executes Franky and then asks for the case again. The Yardies then say that Franky was the only one who knew the combination to the case. Undeterred, Boris chops Franky's arm off, removes the wire, takes the case, and leaves the Yardies with Franky's body.

* Referred to in the ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' story ''The Joker's Millions''. The Joker believes he's inherited a fortune and, just before he discovers [[spoiler:that most of the money is counterfeit and most of the valuables are worthless fakes]], he comments to himself "I've been spending a lot lately. Still, plenty more where that came from. I'll just take another suitcase full as pocket money."

For accuracy, the briefcase should be a [[http://www.zerohalliburton.com/collections/aluminum-business-cases.html Zero Halliburton brand brushed-aluminum model]] (oddly just the right size for ten thousand one-hundred-dollar bills), the first choice of terrorists, drug dealers, and Las Vegas whales.

For accuracy, the briefcase should be a Zero Halliburton brand brushed-aluminum model (oddly just the right size for ten thousand one-hundred-dollar bills), the first choice of terrorists, drug dealers, and Las Vegas whales.

* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in the third round of the ''LiarGame'', in which the scenario has participants role play as smugglers trying to sneak conspicuous suitcases through customs and inspectors determining whether or not the suitcase really is full of money or [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow whether the smuggler just wants them to think that]].
** Played straight several times, but also averted in that the obscene amounts of money also come in: rare gems, checks, bank-accounts complete with ATM cards, and poker chips.

* In ''OnceUponATimeInMexico'', at a payoff between two characters, one of them hands the other his fee... in a metal lunchbox. Slightly lampshaded, as the character then comments he was unable to find a small enough suitcase for the sum of money the other had requested.
** Indeed, almost every time this trope is used in that film, it is via a lunchbox full of money. In one case, it is shown that this is enough money to pay for [[spoiler:the President's aide to betray him to the Barillo Cartel]]. The exception is the end of the film, where there is so much money shown that it fills [[spoiler:the protagonists' guitar cases, with enough left over to stuff their jackets with.]]
* The script for ''Beethoven'' features one of these, but the actual film cut replaced it with a rather less impressive brown envelope of notes.

** In ''Film/LicenceToKill'', TheMole is paid a suitcase of cash for helping Sanchez escape US custody. Bond later uses it to knock him into a shark tank.

* Subverted and lampshaded in ''Film/TheBrothersBloom'':
-->''"Only Russian mafia men and Hollywood spies deal in large briefcases full of money. YOU get a certified check."''
** Later, the Russian mobster Diamond Dog turns up with a a briefcase full of money.

* On ''TheWire'', Drug dealer Marlo Stanfield tries to pay with a briefcase full of money, but the cash is dirty and disorganized because it came directly from the drug corners. The other party actually rejects the case until he washes the money and returns with a proper bribe.
** Actually, Spiros rejects the money because it's "dirty," which Marlo mistakenly thinks is a comment on the physical condition of the money. When Marlo returns with a briefcase full of cleaner bills, Spiros explains to Marlo that he meant that the money was from the streets, but he decided to do business with Marlo anyway because Marlo was persistent.

*** In fact, many game shows used such a prop. Many of them, like the one in ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'', were clear, so you could see the money in them (though it was usually just prop money, or, as could be seen quickly as a FreezeFrameBonus, stacks and stacks of...one dollar bills).

* In the ''Series/LieToMe'' pilot episode, Dr. Lightman's suspicious behavior and BriefcaseFullOfMoney are a test of Transportation Security Administration profiler Ria Torres's abilities. After he and Dr. Foster end their hiring pitch, they leave behind the briefcase. When Ria calls them on the "forgotten" item, Lightman says nonchalantly that's her hiring bonus.
** The scene can also be seen as a bit of a ShoutOut to TimRoth (Lightman) being well-known for [[Film/ReservoirDogs two Tarantino films]] [[Film/PulpFiction with important suitcases]].

** To be fair, they go for 500 meat each. A pithy exchange rate for a fat stack, but it still ain't chump change (at lower levels).

* Referenced/parodied in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' where Fat Tony gives Mayor Quimby a kickback in the form of a [[ThiefBag bag with a dollar sign on it]]. The mayor says that he'd prefer future kickbacks to come in a nondescript briefcase instead.

* For U.S. Dollars, even at the highest denomination ($100), you'd actually need a large ''suitcase'' to hold a sufficiently large bribe. Unless you're planning to do the hand off at an airport, train station, or the like, this will be rather conspicuous.
** In the days before electronic money transfers, this trope was more plausible; the no longer printed $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 bills (there was also a $100,000 bill, but it was used only for payments from the US government to foreign governments) combined with the much higher value of the dollar in those days meant that a briefcase full of cash could make for a very hefty bribe.
* In Dubai, this still holds true for purchasing property. If you pay cash up front, literally, you get the deed. Otherwise, regardless of how much you made for a down payment, if someone else does this, ''they'' get it.

One of the most ubiquitous tropes of all. Whenever someone is offering someone else an obscene amount of money for whatever reason, it will always be in the form of neatly stacked and bound stacks of bills in a briefcase, or, if the amount is even larger, a suitcase. Always. Frequently appears where the people making the briefcase can't afford enough money and therefore try to pad out the suitcase with stacks of paper with a few dollar bills on top. For accuracy, the briefcase should be a Zero Halliburton brand brushed-aluminum model (oddly just the right size for ten thousand one-hundred-dollar bills), the first choice of terrorists, drug dealers, and Las Vegas whales.

A briefcase full isn't really an obscene amount these days, relatively speaking. Assuming all US$100 bills, an average sized briefcase (25" x 18" x 4") could theoretically fit about US$2,400,000. An average attache case (18" x 12" x 4.5") is good for about US$1,000,000. That's obviously a lot of money, but not generally enough in the modern developed world to live on like a king, sufficient to fund a significant enterprise, or worth killing over. That's precisely the reason why the US Treasury doesn't make any bills bigger than $100. Notice, however, that if you fly across the Atlantic it ''is'' possible to cram in a briefcase an obscene amount of euros: using 500 € bills and assuming each bill has a thickness of 0.16 mm, a briefcase as described above can hold €6,350,000 (US$8,550,275), whereas an attaché case can hold up to €3,213,000 (US$4,326,304). (In fact, euros have become popular with organised crime.) A briefcase full of money would also weigh quite a lot: In the above examples the suitcase would be over fifty pounds and the attaché case over twenty. [[HollywoodDensity However, you never see anyone struggling to lift the suitcase.]]

Interestingly, there exists a simple mechanism precisely designed for the impersonal transfer of arbitrarily large amounts of money: a handy little financial instrument called a ''bearer bond''. It weighs as much as the one sheet of paper it's printed on, it's completely negotiable -- in effect, currency -- at any major bank, it's untraceable for practical purposes, and it can carry a huge face value, even into the hundreds of millions.[[hottip:*:though anyone showing you a briefcase full of these denominated in US dollars is most likely lying - the Treasury, apparently being GenreSavvy, severely curtailed their printing in 1982 and has never issued bearer bonds greater than $1 million. You also still have to pay income taxes on the interest - normal bonds are exempt.]]Unfortunately, criminals outside the sort of movies in which Interpol might be a factor never seem to think of this and lug around heavy briefcases full of money through, say, Customs.

* Referred to in the ''ComicBook/{{Batman}} story ''The Joker's Millions''. The Joker believes he's inherited a fortune and, just before he discovers [[spoiler:that most of the money is counterfeit and most of the valuables are worthless fakes]], he comments to himself "I've been spending a lot lately. Still, plenty more where that came from. I'll just take another suitcase full as pocket money."

** The scene can also be seen as a bit of a ShoutOut to TimRoth (Lightman) being well-known for [[ReservoirDogs two Tarantino films]] [[PulpFiction with important suitcases]].

A briefcase full isn't really an obscene amount these days, relatively speaking. Assuming all US$100 bills, an average sized briefcase (25" x 18" x 4") could theoretically fit about US$2,400,000. An average attache case (18" x 12" x 4.5") is good for about US$1,000,000. That's obviously a lot of money, but not generally enough in the modern developed world to live on like a king, sufficient to fund a significant enterprise, or worth killing over. That's precisely the reason why the US treasury doesn't make any bills bigger than $100. Notice, however, that if you fly across the Atlantic it ''is'' possible to cram in a briefcase an obscene amount of euros: using 500 € bills and assuming each bill has a thickness of 0.16 mm, a briefcase as described above can hold €6,350,000 (US$8,550,275), whereas an attaché case can hold up to €3,213,000 (US$4,326,304). (In fact, euros have become popular with organised crime.) A briefcase full of money would also weigh quite a lot: In the above examples the suitcase would be over fifty pounds and the attaché case over twenty. [[HollywoodDensity However, you never see anyone struggling to lift the suitcase.]]

Interestingly, there exists a simple mechanism precisely designed for the impersonal transfer of arbitrarily large amounts of money: a handy little financial instrument called a ''bearer bond''. It weighs as much as the one sheet of paper it's printed on, it's completely negotiable -- in effect, currency -- at any major bank, it's untraceable for practical purposes, and it can carry a huge face value, even into the hundreds of millions. Unfortunately, criminals outside the sort of movies in which Interpol might be a factor never seem to think of this and lug around heavy briefcases full of money through, say, Customs.

* Spoofed in the opening credits of ''{{Zombieland}}'', which shows a 'businessman' fleeing from a burning car chased by two zombies, heedlessly throwing away his briefcase of money.
* In the 1985 version of ''BrewstersMillions'', the first order Monty Brewster (RichardPryor) gives his newly hired head of security is for the man to go into the vault and collect $2 million in cash "for whatever expenses come up." The guard is later seen hauling around a single locked briefcase that he keeps handcuffed to his wrist.

* Photos from a [[http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=133200&p=3&topicID=35778276 raid on a Mexican Drug Lord's house]] show stacks of money in all corners of the house, filling ''multiple'' filing cabinets, and '''18''' Briefcases Full Of Money proper.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland Total Drama]]'' franchise, this is how the prize money is delivered. However, it usually gets stolen by a rouge contestant [[spoiler:(Ezekiel in TDWT and Heather in TDRI)]] or comically destroyed [[spoiler:whether it's eaten by a shark or burned in a volcano]].

* Subverted and lampshaded in ''TheBrothersBloom'':

*** In fact, many game shows used such a prop. Many of them, like the one in ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'', were clear, so you could see the money in them (though it was usually just prop money).