Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und.) anything that has been stolen and then is sold off cheaply.

1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.

2. in ext. use of sense 3, a person who is seen in a positive light, presenting a good opportunity.

1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 100/2: But eventually our plans were all knocked in the head by our ‘gift,’ as we reckoned him, ‘namasing’ away with the note case, instead of allowing us to relieve him of it.
1924		C.J. Dennis ‘Nocturne’ in Rose of Spadgers 51: If you are flush in Spadgers, ’tain’t good form / [...] / To flash yer gilt an’ go the pace too warm, / Might make the Lane regard yeh as a gift.

3. anything seen as especially easy, requiring no effort to perform or obtain.

1832		Examiner (London) 187/2: [They] asked him if he would join them in a good thing, which was to carry away a landlord’s till of money, and that it would be a ‘gift’ (an easy task) .
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 125/2: Lets have no more mishaps, for this is a ‘gift’ not so easily scared up at all times.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 4: Gift - A certainly; leaving no doubt of the result of any match.
1894		Truth (Sydney) 22 July 2/7: ‘Do you know of any job we could do together?’ ‘I know of a dead gift if you care to do it; a branch of the Union Bank’.
1914		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 49: As Harry Fox says It’s a gift.
1923		Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves 143: ‘Mothers’ Sack Race.’ [...] ‘A gift for Mrs Penworthy, the tobacconist’s wife.’.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Gift (n): excellent, unexpected surprise.