I just rewatched Paper Moon this week.
This hustle has been going on for as long as there has been money.
This sounds different from the old countdown scam, in that the crook is actually removing some of the money instead of getting the clerk to believe that $10 is part of the crook’s money when he’s already used it to pay for the purchase.
When I was working as a convenience-store clerk, 40-some years ago, someone would try it every couple of weeks. As you say, it goes back a long time before then.