Where does the expresion "pin money" come from?

Question

My mum and I were talking last night and can't hink where this expresion comes from, help solve this puzzle please.

Answer 1

Pin money originally referred to money given by husbands to their wives for the specific purpose of buying pins.

pin money \pin money\, noun:
1. An allowance of money given by a husband to his wife for private and personal expenditures.
2. Money for incidental expenses.
3. A trivial sum.

Answer 2

According to Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and :Fable:
"A lady's allowance ... for her own personal expenditure. Long after the invention of pins, in the 14th century, the maker was allowed to sell them in open shop only on January 1st and 2nd. It was then that the court ladies and city dames flocked to the depots to buy them, having first been provided with money by their husbands. When pins became cheap and common, the ladies spent their allowances on other fancies, but the term pin money remained in vogue."
Well, there might be a grain of truth in that, but I reckon Brewer drank some home-brew before he wrote it! Why on earth should pin-makers be restricted to selling on only two days in the year? More likely, I reckon, that wives said "I need some money for pins" to try and extract a bit of cash for themselves from their husbands, it being well-known that men don't have a clue as to what pins are for, and weren't likely to do a stock-take and count all the pins around the house to see if their wives were being truthful.

Answer 3

Pin Money: Catharine Howard, wife of Henry VIII., introduced pins into England from France. As they were expensive at first, a separate sum for this luxury was granted to the ladies by their husbands. Hence the expression "pin-money."


http://www.sacklunch.net/personalnames/P/PinMoney.html

Answer 4

I was always told it was a poor married woman that was employed by dressmakers in the olden days to pick up pins. They only received a very small payment which they kept for their own needs. (If they were lucky!).

Answer 5

PIN number is your Personnel Identification Number ive never heard of "pin money" but thats your where the PIN comes from

Answer 6

pin money is the same as mad money....it is used in case a girl or woman needs to get out of a bad situation(date, etc), and can be used for bus fare or taxi....kind of an emergency stash as it were......good luck

Answer 7

In the olden days, ladies would "pin" money for emergencies into their garments.

Answer 8

It depends if you are card holder then it can mean that, but pin money means gambling to most people ..!

Answer 9

I believe it comes from tipping the waitress and you pinned it on her pinny, or is it pinnie.

Answer 10

ATM