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I just read this lovely quote from MSN about an ex-girlfriend putting out a hit on her ex-boyfriend:

"I will pay somebody a stack to kill my baby father," Eley wrote in a post this spring, according to a police affidavit.

(...)

A "stack" is slang for $1,000.

"Police: Target of Facebook hit fatally shot", NBC News

A "stack" apparently meant $1000 and as her quote didn't qualify the word at all, this was obviously slang she's used before. This is the first time I've heard this.

Btw, for your entertainment, here was the response she got to her inquiry:

"Say no more ... what he look like ... where he be at ... need that stack 1st," Bynum wrote back, police said.

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    In other news, StackExchange is renamed GrandExchange.
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    Aug 16, 2011 at 20:37
  • 1
    I like it... GrandOverflow? Awesome
    – Rikon
    Aug 16, 2011 at 20:50

3 Answers 3

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I think that stack goes back relatively far in its meaning of "a large quantity". From the book Slang and its analogues past and present written in 1903:

enter image description here

The entry provides the phrase "stacks of the ready" to mean "plenty of money". I think this phrase, in the prevailing years, was shortened to the slang stack, which also took on the meaning of $1000.

Although I am loathe to use this as a source, Urban Dictionary lists that:

one stack = 1 G

That is, one stack is equivalent to one grand which is $1000. The use of stack in this fashion is very much slang, so it is not in more established dictionaries. However, given that Urban Dictionary is a crowd-sourced source which sometimes contains the most current uses of words, and that this meaning of stack is entered twice, I am sure that a stack is equal to $1000.

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  • Wow... that was a lot older than I had assumed
    – Rikon
    Aug 16, 2011 at 20:06
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    Off the top of my head, I think Pink Floyd's money refers to money as a "stack": "Money! Get back \ I'm alright Jack keep your hands off my stack"
    – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
    Aug 16, 2011 at 20:12
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    I still see no evidence that a stack is $1000 ...
    – Frantisek
    Aug 16, 2011 at 20:15
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    @RiMMER: Updated.
    – simchona
    Aug 16, 2011 at 20:24
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    @FumbleFingers -- I think "stack" as "$1000" is very new. "Stack" as "a lot of something" is older. "stash" is definitely more widespread in its use, though.
    – simchona
    Aug 16, 2011 at 20:45
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i think a stack is $2,000,because a stack of 100 dollar bills from the bank,is20 bills with a band wrapped around it.

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    – Community Bot
    Nov 3, 2021 at 21:16
  • Presumably a stack of $50s would be $1000 (stacks seem to be typically 20 or 25 bills to give the nearest round number).
    – Stuart F
    Nov 3, 2021 at 21:58
  • @StuartF Curious, where do you see this? In the States at least, banks typically use paper self-adhesive bands that hold 100 bills. They are color-coded and labeled (blue $100 for ones, red $500 for fives for example). It's not about round numbers but uniform sizes of the bundles, and 20 bills do not take up a lot of space; the bands would take up too much [energy].
    – livresque
    Nov 3, 2021 at 23:49
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So funny you ask about the "Origin" of a slang term. Well...There was this Ice-T movie...

Banks use the term "strap" for single bound stack of 100 paper notes & the term "bundle" for 10 straps. The slang use of "stack" could be trying to equate 100 paper notes in a strap of cash. If that is the case a "Full Stack" equaling $1000 would be a strap of (100) $10 paper notes. "Half Stack" being (50) $10 paper notes equaling $500. So to live the slang...put (50) $10 bills in your pocket, head on out to the club, and say you have a "Half Stack."

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    Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Jan 2 at 10:22

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