That is funny. When I was a young child, very young, I somehow came across Confederate money in my father's tool shed. I did not know at the time that he was a numismatist, and had coins from New Guiena, France, Egypt, all over the world.
I was old enough to know it was 'money', so I walked to the corner store and tried to buy candy. Same as the guy in the story. The owner called my parents, this was back when America was still America, and they came and picked me up. I only remember this in the big picture because I was so young, but as I remember it, they bought the candy in real money and we left. It was all good.
I guess my father learned that keeping money in the tool shed instead of the safe, was not such a clever deception and was not bugaler safe. lol
I guess I was a smart little thief, at 6 years old.