Has Anyone Ever Tried to Pay for Something with a Briefcase Full of Cash?

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In this video:

A briefcase full of cash is a trope so common that even TV Tropes, a website dedicated to cataloguing cinematic cliches, requests that users only mention “exceptions, parodies and subversions”.

Sources:

Image Credit:

[rosemarystanton]

This is a Nice video.... So inspiring but do anyone knows about expert Mrs Alice. Mrs Alice is legit and her method works like magic I keep on earning every single week with her new strategy

[ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

This video put me in a mood to participate in the action and pay for something funny with a "briefcase full of cash". The problem? I don't have much money. But I do have some other props, so after two solid days of prep, I dressed myself up in an all-black getup:
- my only suit
- a borrowed overcoat
- leather gloves
- wraparound sunglasses
- an "earpiece" made out of one side of cut-up old earbuds

I then put the appropriate payment into the briefcase, and headed off to Tim Horton's...
Thankfully, there was a line, so I got to act up a bit (whispering into sleeve, scanning interior, etc.) while I waited.
After placing my order for a large coffee with 2x cream, the cashier somewhat nervously requested a payment of $2.15. I smirked as faintly as possible, brought the briefcase up on to the counter suddenly, and spun it around so it was facing the cashier.
"I think you'll find this payment to be agreeable, " I said flatly, as I popped the briefcase open. Inside, the cashier found exactly two dollars and fifteen cents, with nothing at all surrounding it. Cracking up slightly by this point, she got on board with my nonsense and fished out the money to complete my order. Going in, I thought the moment I'd spend waiting for my coffee might kill the intensity of my shenanigan, but it turned out to be awesome. I was barely able to hold character when an classic suburban dad-looking guy took a position waiting behind me. I snapped my head to the side to survey his position, and he jumped back immediately in surprise. LOL!
"Ma'am, " I said, nodding to the woman who handed me my coffee, and walked out robotically.
...and thus concluded my secret agent coffee run.

Footnotes:
--- Summer was awful timing for this. I nearly died wearing all that shit there and back...
--- Total budget was $18.20 (shades + dry cleaning suit)
--- Upon scanning for facial expressions of customers, I started to break character as I exited. Some of them saw me smile on the way, confirming the spectacle was nonsense, and their expressions softened from frowny confusion to smiley confusion. I would have preferred they remained unsure...

Today I found out...I still got it! :D
Thanks for the inspiration, Simon.

[sarahvanorden]

There was a reality show in America that ran for 1 season where two families in need received a briefcase with 100, 000 dollars.They had to debate whether to keep it all or donate some. I had a friend on the show and she actually was able to adopt her son thanks to the show!

[HunterShows]

I'm sure this is just in television. I haven't come across a single briefcase full of cash in my life.

[joesjoeys]

I hope next April 1st Simon asks a question and just answers with a one word answer Yes/No and ends the video there.

[MRender]

The channel has turned into “Things you google when you’re high”

[Hixie]

I personally witnessed a China man walk into a Rolex shop in HK, he was standing next to me and asked to see a limited edition watch. After about 2 minutes he asked about the cost, he thought for about 5 seconds then proceeded to slam his suitcase onto the glass table top (I was suprised the glass wasn't smashed) and said "I believe I have enough cash, you count it". The watch costed about USD65, 000, I didn't bother staying to watch the sales count the notes.

[frankfischer]

In the spirit of pure malice. I once paid off a high school poker debt by placing bags of pennies up in a 40' pine tree. I told my friend where he could collect his payment and he did eventually retrieve it. I tell that story with a mix of shame and pride.

[ThrottleKitty]

When I was a teenager, I use to carry my Yu-Gi-Oh! card collection around in a metal briefcase. Just because of how cool it felt when I sat it on the counter and opened it up to pull my cards out. I felt like Seito Kaiba! (Yes, I know, I'm a nerd)

[justahilltopguy]

My grandfather always bought his new cars with cash. However it never necessitated a briefcase. He would simply bring a couple bank bags.
If the dealership didn't want his cash (they make much more with financing, of course) he would simply go across the street and drop 35k at his second choice of make. It helped that he was a good friend of his local Chrysler dealer and even sold him the land for the dealership.
When he bought his last truck before his death the dealership manager declined sale. The owner of the dealership personally came in, fired the manager on the spot for "incompetence, stupidity, and having no for business or importance of customer relations, " and proceeded with sale. I was with him when it happened.

[psquare]

I always accept suitcase full of currency notes as ransom.

[diyeana]

If I were to rob the bank I would totally draw a dollar sign on my getaway bag. I would rob the bank around Halloween time and wear a Hamburglar outfit. The police would think that there's no way any sane person would do that so it must be a costume.

This is, of course, only hypothetical. If a similar crime occurs this Halloween, I have a solid alibi.

[dahat]

Briefcases are less fun, sacks though...

Once I owed a friend ~$1200 so acquired the full amount of the debt in singles, then placed them in a white pillowcase onto which I drew a giant dollar sign on either side.

He was quite thrilled.

[snowfloofcathug]

First thought: Yes, Victor Lustig got paid in a briefcase full of cash when selling the Eiffel Tower :D

[capmango]

So what would really be interesting to include in this video is 1. The first known use of a briefcase full of cash in a Hollywood movie, and 2. documented historical cases of payment with briefcases full of cash EARLIER than the first instance in a movie. All the cases mentioned in the video occurred relatively recently; perhaps they were all cases of life imitating art.

[georgemartin]

I worked at a large retail company...their yellow sign looks like a price tag....where, through the assistance of a highly-placed company man, a thief (who sold broken/bad computer parts to the service division of the company) would use this guy to raise the prices of parts, AFTER the job was processed, to a very high rate. The dirty thief didn't use briefcases of money to pay the inside guy, but did use FED-EX envelopes, stuffed with money and gift cards, to pay the inside guy off. The thief was eventually convicted for embezzling over 41 million dollars. At my low-level supervisory capacity, I saw this happening, and consulted my company regarding the situation by speaking to...the inside guy....guess how that went....But I still called LP since all my managers seemed to be spineless or stupid (maybe both), and I looked at the situation as an outside company stealing money from my company. A legitimate concern that, to me, went beyond my stupid managers not wanting to do anything about it.
So once the FBI became involved, the thief from my company "rolled" on the other guy and got 5 years in a federal pen. The thief from the other company got 15 years....well deserved years. Such damage was done to the service division of the company, that almost everyone lost their jobs, starting with me in 2009.
Looking at what I have written, it seems apparent I may possibly still harbor some resentment over the situation...maybe...BUT I am working at a far better place now and it worked out well for never know...what seems like a disaster at the time can turn out to be a happy happenstance...

[captainskippy]

I was a police officer for 28 years and retired as a captain. Once we had arrested a cocaine “mule” out of Miami and the judge set her bond at $100, 000. The next morning a long haired lawyer in a sharp suit and said he was there to post her bond. I reminded him of the amount to which he set his briefcase on the and popped it open to reveal the $100, 000 in hundred dollar bills. My eyes bugged out and I called the judge on the phone to come up. I wasn’t touching any of that. For some reason the woman never showed up for court.

[PabloTBrave]

Pretty sure you can't do that in the UK due to money laundering and tax evasion laws.

[DCMarvelMultiverse]

So, my debt company says I cannot pay cash. They are breaking the law?

[WhenTheManComesAround]

One time I bought a 1963 Chevy Suburban for my brother in nickels. he had previously agreed to sell me the Suburban for $1, 000. But then changed his mind and decided to up the price by $400 to $1, 400 because of the $50 radio head unit upgrade. So in protest instead of paying him in cash I went to the bank and ordered $1, 400 in nickels. When he showed up to the house to pick up the money for the Suburban he was first surprised and then upset and all the boxes of nickels that he had to then take to the bank. He must have looked like quite the fool carrying all these boxes of nickels into the bank to deposit haha. but that's what you get when you change the terms of an agreement in the middle of a transaction haha! :D