DCHP-1 Online

shinplaster † [a contemptuous name based on the small size of the bill]

• 1 n. Slang, Obs. one of several denominations, from one dollar downward, of paper bills issued in the United States in 1837 and circulated for a time in Canada.

  • 1837  As a constant reader of your invaluable paper, I have the opportunity of observing that you, of all others, pay the most satisfactory attention to the subjects of specie payments, copper currency, Upper Canada bank affairs and shin plasters.
  • 1837  Shin Plasters.--Much has been said and written a'propos to this beautiful currency, while the public have been in full enjoyment of all its varieties.
  • 1838  Whoever will apprehend the said robber, or will give such information as will lead to the recovery of the above munitions of war, will receive the above reward in current shinplasters from Uncle Sam.

• 2 n. Hist. a Canadian banknote worth twenty-five cents. See 1966 quote.

  • 1887  I will give further particulars on receipt of a shin-plaister.
  • 1913  Shin-plaster, a 25-cent or quarter-dollar note, a curiosity not often seen nowadays.
  • 1961  A rare 25-cent "shinplaster" was among $80 in bills stolen from the home . . . by a thief who forced a bedroom window, police said.
  • 1966  Frank Howard, New Democratic Party MP for Skeena has asked Finance Minister Sharp to bring back the shinplaster for Canada's centennial year. The shinplaster was 25-cent paper money issued by Canada in 1870, 1900 and 1923.

• 3 n. Slang the Canadian dollar, a monetary unit of 100 cents, taken over from the decimal system used in the United States and officially adopted in 1858 in United Canada; also, the equivalent of this unit in paper money or coin.

  See also: dollar  (def. 2)  

  • 1963  When the Canadian shinplaster plunged to a devaluated discount, the churl's reactionary conservatism crumbled, economically as well as politically.