A monkey and a pony

Posted by James Briggs February 06, 2004In reply to A monkey and a pony posted by Larry on February 06, 2004

I'm sure "a monkey" and "a pony" are cockney expressions for amounts of money - £250 and £50 but I can never remember which is which. Can someone advise me which is which and their origins? My French students are facinated by all our English expressions. Is there a website that offers comparisons between English idioms and metaphors and their French equivalents?

A 'pony' is £25 - possibly deriving from the fact that it is a relatively small sum and a Pony is a relatively small horse. 'Monkey' is £500/$500 - origin unknown.