from the Arreat Summit
"If you are killed, your character will lose a percentage of the total gold both carried and stored in the Stash. This percentage is equal to your character's level but will not exceed 20%. After this 'death penalty' is deducted, the remaining gold your character was carrying falls to the ground in a pile. If the penalty exceeds the amount of gold you were carrying, the remainder of the penalty is deducted from your Stash.
In Single-Player, dying will not deplete your entire gold supply. No gold is lost from your Stash, and 500 gold per character level is exempt from the death penalty. For example, if a 10th level Single-Player character with 5,000 gold dies, he will lose no gold. "
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/basics/
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