shinplaster

American  

[shin-plas-ter, -plah-ster] / ˈʃɪnˌplæs tər, -ˌplɑ stər /

noun

1. a plaster for the shin or leg.

2. Informal. (formerly)

   1. a piece of paper money of a denomination lower than one dollar.

   2. money of little value, as that issued on insufficient security.

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shinplaster British  

/ ˈʃɪnˌplɑːstə /

noun

1. a promissory note on brittle paper, issued by an individual

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Etymology

Origin of shinplaster

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25; shin ¹ + plaster

Example Sentences

Roberto Lopez, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, flew to Washington to beg for mercy or at least for time to go into the shinplaster business.

From Time Magazine Archive

For change the barber gave them a sort of shinplaster money, each piece of which bore the legend: "Good for one shave or ten cents at the Palace Shaving Parlors, 16 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill."

From A Man for the Ages A Story of the Builders of Democracy by Adams, John Wolcott

The word of honour of a man who'd stoop to a trick as vile as I have doesn't amount to a continental shinplaster.

From The Fortune Hunter by Vance, Louis Joseph

It’s healthy and it’s moral, and it’s goin’ to make Omyha look like a shinplaster.

From Desert Dust by Shepherd, J. Clinton

Mine was on a horse at the head of the procession, but I had a ten-cent "shinplaster," with which I bought some biscuits of the man.

From The Bright Side of Prison Life Experience, In Prison and Out, of an Involuntary Soujouner in Rebellion by Swiggett, Samuel A.