Hard currency taken by a scavenger (5)
I believe the answer is:
hyena
'scavenger' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'hard currency taken by a' is the wordplay.
'hard' becomes 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications).
'currency' becomes 'yen' (Japanese currency).
'taken by' says to put letters next to each other.
'h'+'yen'+'a'='HYENA'
(Other definitions for hyena that I've seen before include "Afr. doglike carnivore" , "Scavenging animal" , "Carnivorous mammal" , "African native" , "Laughing mammal?" .)