Michigan bankroll

noun, Slang.
1.
a large roll of paper money in small denominations.
2.
a roll of counterfeit paper money or a roll of money-sized paper surrounded by one or more genuine bills.
Also called Michigan roll.
Origin
1930-35
Slang definitions & phrases for Michigan bankroll

Michigan bankroll

noun phrase

A bankroll having a note of large denomination on the outside and small notes or paper making up the rest

[1932+; the date is probably earlier; in the 1850s, Michigan bankers outwitted auditors by taking barrels of nails, with a thin top layer of silver coins, from bank to bank ahead of them]