The ''bon'' (French Canadian, Polish) was a type of

paper currency Paper money, often referred to as a note or a bill (North American English), is a type of negotiable promissory note that is payable to the bearer on demand, making it a form of currency. The main types of paper money are government notes, which ...

issued by merchants to meet the need for small change. Bon is an abbreviation for ''bon pour'' (French for "good for"). These notes were in wide use in the early part of the 19th century. They were sometimes referred to as "shin plasters" by

English Canadians English Canadians (), or Anglo-Canadians (), refers to either Canadians of English people, English ethnic origin and heritage or to English-speaking or Anglophone Canadians of any ethnic origin; it is used primarily in contrast with French C ...

. Because of their widespread use, they are considered to be the

precursor Precursor or Precursors may refer to: *Precursor (religion), a forerunner, predecessor ** The Precursor, John the Baptist Science and technology * Precursor (bird), hypothesized genus of fossil birds that was composed of fossilized parts of unre ...

to modern

banknotes A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commer ...

.Money and exchange in Canada to 1900
"merchants to revive the practice of issuing bons or, as they were called by the English Canadians, “shinplasters”."

References

Numismatics {{banknote-stub