Shinplaster: Difference between revisions

'''Shinplaster''' was a common name for [[paper money]] of low denomination, typically less than one dollar, and used [[List of circulating currencies|circulating]] widely in the economies{{clarify|date=March 2015}} of the 19th century where there was a shortage of circulating coinage.{{clarify|date=March 2015}} The shortage of circulating moneycoins was causedprimarily by two things. The first was usually caused by banks refusingdueto exchange paper money for coinage. In 1937 US banks were prohibited from exchanging paper notes for hard currency or coins (Specie). The second was caused by the intrinsic value of the metal rising above the value of the coin itself. IfPeople thebecame amountincentivized ofto silver in a dime rose above 10 cents in value, thetake coins would be taken out of circulation and meltedmelt them for the true intrinsic value of the metal. This causedleft theno shortage[[mediumofcirculatingexchange]] coins. People no longer hadfor the simple medium to purchase a bottleofmilk[[Fast-moving orconsumer agoods|basic newspaper,consumer etc.,goods]] becausesuch thereas weremilk veryand fewnewspapers. circulatingTo coins of the denomination necessary to completefill this transaction. Paper moneygap, inbanks general, was bought and sold at a discount because merchants and consumers thought that the value of hard currency, Gold, silver and Copper, had more value than paper notes. With fractional orissued low -denomination notes, people felt that they were almost valueless. They thought of them as having a little more value than the cushion paper soldiers put in front of their boots to cushion their shins against chafing and rash. These were called Shinplasters. And so these notes were identified as shinplasterscurrency.

Private issues from stores, bank issues and tokens as well circulated as a method of accomplishing commercial transactions from 1837 to 1861. Shinplasters circulated in many parts of the western frontier during the mid 1800s, including in the [[Republic of Texas]] during its early days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstoncoins.com/blog/currency-of-the-republic-of-texas/|title=How the Republic of Texas began its Paper Money Career|date=September 6, 2016|work=Currency of the Republic of Texas|accessdate=2019-07-12}}</ref> The breathbreadth of these private systems and the lack of integrity and security caused Francis SkinnerSpinner, Secretary of the Treasury to produce a new idea. He pasted a few postage stamps on a Treasury sheet and passed it as a note. The process started where people used private notes tokens and Postal currencies as legal tender to accomplish their household and business purchasing. It became so Popularpopular that Spinner proposed to President Lincoln and Lincoln passed a bill in Aprilof 1861 enacting the postal Currency Act. This made postal currency legal and prohibited private, non-Governmental entities from producing notes, coins or currency. Thus, what we know as [[Fractional Currenciescurrency|fractional currencies]] were born.'''

Shinplasters''' circulated in the United States from 1861 to 1869, during the Civil War and the years of[[Reconstruction reconstructionera]]. Since much of the coins were sold to Canada by brokers and melted or sent to England for melt, Canada was overloaded with American coinage that began to be preferred as a circulation currency. The Minister of Finance decided to buy the American currencies at a very favorable rate, as they struck their replacement coinage in England, and they shipped these coins to New York to solve their problems. At the same time, the government fixed the exchange rate from American to Canadian coinage at 80% to discourage the import of more coinage. It worked. To help with the shortages, the Canadian Government issued in 1870 notes in the value of $.25¢ as a single -note value. The initial notes were labeled as series A and an A was printed on the left side of the note toward the center. They printed 2,000,000 of these notes. In 1871, they Printedprinted another 3,000,000 $.25¢ notes of Series B to continue to fill this void and prevent American coins from coming back. From 1869 until the 1890s they printed 300,000 $.25¢ notes with no plate number on it. They used the old A and B plates and honed off the A and B letters. On some of these notes, you can still see the remnants of the A and B are visible.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}

The Governmentgovernment of the Dominion was able to fix the problem caused by the importation and commerce created by American coinage imported into Canada. theyThey printed additional $.25¢ notes with no plate number. This ended the importation and Canadians used Canadian notes to fuel their economy.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}

In Canada, the term '''shinplaster''' was widely used for 25-cent paper monetary notes which circulated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first design was printed on March 1, 1870, and the final design was first printed on July 2, 1923.<ref>[http://www.banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/AME/CAN/CAN-DOM.htm#DOMINION_OF_CANADA DOMINION OF CANADA 1870-1923 Fractional "Shinplaster" Issue] Banknote.ws</ref>

The term likely arose from the previously issued 5 -shilling note ({{1/4}} Poundpound) which also bore the frenchFrench term "Cinq{{lang|fr|cinq Piastre"piastres}} on the face. (Bank of Montreal museum){{Citation needed|reason=apocryphal?|date=October 2019}}

'''Shinplasters''',or"calabashes" (as they were known in southern Queensland), were a feature of the [[Squatting (pastoral)|Squatters]]' vast pastoral enterprises, and often circulated in the towns of the bush alongside and in place of legal tender. These private [[IOU (debt)|IOUs]] circulated widely, at times making up the bulk of cash in circulation, especially in the 1840s and 50s1850s.<ref name=D>Dansie, Robert, "Morass to Municipality", Darling Downs Institute Press, Toowoomba, 1985:63</ref>

In some places they formed the core of a company shop economy ([[Truck system]]), circulating as [[Private currency|private currencies]]. They were often of such low quality that they could not be hoarded, and shopkeepers off the property would not take them, as theysuch currency would deteriorate into illegibility before they could be redeemed.

:''{{blockquote|As commerce and trade grew in centres such as [[Toowoomba]], more and more calabashes were issued, and more and more merchants, squatters and others engaged in transactions were forced to give their 'paper' in change or as payment for goods and services.''<ref name=D/>}}<!--

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