pretty penny

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pretty penny (plural pretty pennies)

1. (idiomatic) A considerable amount of money; a high price or a high income.

   They could charge a pretty penny as they had a captive audience.

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 75, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     We shall have our branch line—our shares are up, sir—and we buy your three fields along the Brawl, and put a pretty penny into your pocket, Mr. Pendennis.

   • 1921, John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga, part 1, ch. 6:

     He expected she was spending a pretty penny on dress.

   • 1991, Robert Wyatt; Alfreda Benge (lyrics and music), “Shrinkrap”, in Dondestan:

     It costs a pretty penny / Just to stay afloat / It takes a lot of lolly / Trying to be jolly

   • 2007 April 30, Barbara Kiviat, “Stephen Schwarzman”, in Time‎, archived from the original on 2008-12-09:

     Schwarzman's firm makes a pretty penny in a number of finance fields.

Usually used with the indefinite article: "a pretty penny".