griff

[stevie-p]

i heard a quote from a film as follows..... il give you the griff for 15 nicker,
Whilst i know griff is information,and nicker is money,where do these words come from...cheers.

[Quizmonster]

'Griff' was certainly an abbreviation of 'griffin', but the origin of the slang sense of the word is unknown. The same is true of 'nicker' = �1.00.

[Mikeyd2]

Here's a bit of an explination from a site.



nicker = a pound (�1) Not pluralised for a number of pounds, eg., 'It only cost me twenty nicker..' From the early 1900's, London slang, precise origin unknown. Possibly connected to the use of nickel in the minting of coins, and to the American slang use of nickel to mean a $5 dollar note, which at the late 1800's was valued not far from a pound. In the US a nickel is more commonly a five cent coin. A nicker bit is a one pound coin, and London cockney rhyming slang uses the expression 'nicker bits' to describe a case of diarrhoea.

[Mikeyd2]

and Griff....

When seeking the news, Royal Navy slang used to make do with griff, "news, information" (short for griffin, "a betting tip,"

[Quizmonster]

As your 'nicker' site says, Mikey, the origin in the sense here is unknown. The same is true of both 'griffin' and its abbreviated form 'griff'.
The earliest recorded use of 'griff' = news/tip is a reference to Newmarket and horse-racing rather than the Royal Navy. And, strangely enough, the very first recorded use of 'nicker' was in the plural...nickers!