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Shinplaster was a common name for paper money of low denomination circulating widely in the frontier economies of the 19th century. These notes were in various places issued by banks, merchants, wealthy individuals and associations, either as banknotes, or circulating IOUs. They were often a variety of token intended to alleviate a shortage of small change in growing frontier regions. They were sometimes used in company shop economies or peonages in place of legal tender. An example of this type of operation was the Reynolds Bros. Mill and Logging operation in Reynoldston, New York which issued its own (shinplasters ) or scrip money in the 1880s to its mill workers and loggers. Original shinplasters from the Reynolds Bros. still exist and can be seen at the (Reynoldston, New York ) website. The shinplaster could only be used in the Reynolds Bros. Company Store. By 1890, the United States Government made them stop this practice. The employees of the Reynolds Bros. strongly resented this practice and a (song ) about this hardship has survived today.〔(History of a Mill and Logging Town )〕 According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' the name comes from the quality of the paper, which was so cheap that with a bit of starch it could be used to make paper mache–like plasters to go under socks and warm shins. A book roughly contemporary with the term, John Russell Bartlett's ''The Dictionary of Americanisms'', defines a shinplaster as "A cant term for a bank-note, or any paper money. It probably came into use in 1837, when the banks suspended specie payment, and when paper money became depreciated in value." Then the book quotes the ''New York Tribune'' of December 3, 1845: "The people may whistle for protection, and put up with what shinplaster rags they can get."〔Bartlett, John Russell ''The Dictionary of Americanisms'' New York, 1947.〕 According to ''Merriam-Webster,'' Shinplaster referred to a small, square piece of paper that could be used as plaster to treat sore legs. ==United States== Shinplasters circulated in the United States from 1837 to 1863, during the period known as the "Free Banking Period." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shinplaster」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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