Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a clever person.

1810		Splendia Follies III. 106: He was never formed for a shiner through life [OED].
1847–81		Halliwell Dict. Archaic and Provincial Words II 733/1: Shiner, a clever fellow. North.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1965		(con. 1940s) B. Behan Confessions 141: Probably some shiner playing around with a child’s printing set.

2. (Aus.) one who wants the limelight, but is unwilling to work towards gaining it.

1964

J.A. Lee Shiner Slattery 8: Edmond Slattery, the Shiner, was a loafer who could walk fifty miles in a day.