Green’s Dictionary of Slang

monish n.

money.

c.1687		‘Mac O Bonniclabbero of Drogheda’ Bog Witticisms Preface: I caun remaumber de Time, vaan me fauder vash mauke Retorne of a grate dele vary mush Monish, be Chreest.
1746		Irish Miscellany 5: [as previous].
1781		M.P. Andrews Dissipation V 80: To be sure, my Lorsh, if I recover my monish, I shall think less to loosh my daughter [OED].
1804		H.H. Brackenridge Modern Chivalry (1937) Pt II Vol. I Bk II 442: It is all de love of de monish, said a Jew.
c.1815		‘The Doctrine of an Israelite’ in Coll. of English Ballads 102: I never stick at trifles when there’s monish in the way!
1827		W.T. Moncrieff Bashful Man II iv: Vant my moniesh, Mr. Blushington? [...] and I’ve never seen the colour of your moniesh.
1833		‘Moses And Rachael’ in Regular Thing, And No Mistake 84: Shelling rhuparps, and hard-vare, I travell’d apout, / Of monish I vas a good earner.
1843		Satirist & Sporting Chron. (Sydney) 4 Mar. 3/3: The Rev. Editor drinks all the proceeds, and the Printer all the monish.
1845		J. Lindridge Sixteen-String Jack 107: If you succeeds, you will have monish, much monish.
1850		Illus. London News 31 Aug. 183/2: The words I heard were [...] couched in the purest and raciest Houndsditch slang [...] ‘l shay, young’un, here’s a shance; fork up a bob, and I’ll put you on a lay you never know nothink of, to vin no end of monish vith the ivories, or the blacks and reds’.
1866		Night Side of N.Y. 15: De price he’s paid of dat will cover de loss of de monish on de others.
1878		Sporting Times 28 Dec. 7/2: Heis not a West-End Jew. He never lends monish.
1880		Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Sept. 13/4: He saw the joke before he did his monish.
1884		Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday 7 June 42/1: ‘What’s your name?’[...] ‘Solomod Ishaacs’ [...] ‘What’s your religion?’ ‘Ready monish’.
1887		West Kansas World 3 Sept. 8/5: ‘But where do you get the monish?’ ‘The monish? [...] venever I goes I takes vit me a silver spoon or a knife [...] and I get two or three dollars for them. It’s easy easy as pie.
1890		Dead Bird (Sydney) 22 Mar. 2/3: [He] thought it far better to sacrifice a good ring and fifty golden pieces of his much-beloved monish.
c.1905		J. Furphy Rigby’s Romance (1921) Ch. xii: 🌐 Full loaded both ways every trip, and me grabbing the monish till I could feel my nose growing big and hooked, and my eyes taking the appearance of black beads.
1905		Marvel III:53 4: Heaps undt heaps of monish!
1912		T.A. Dorgan Silk Hat Harry’s Divorce Suit 9 Jan. [synd. cartoon strip] ‘Gee whiz there’s my tailor for his dough’ [...] ‘I get de monish or I stop it de veddink’.
c.1921		T. Norman Penny Showman 77: Whilst holding out their hands [...] repeating ‘Monish, Monish’.