I recall a counterfeit artist with a "similar" story - he meticulously forged currency and claimed the fact that it was passable as the real thing proved its value as being at /least/ as much as the value of the bill it represented, and therefore was not, in fact, counterfeit money but was an art trade. I don't think the feds agreed.

Edit - i believe I'm thinking of J. S. G. Boggs - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._S._G._Boggs He didn't actually try to pass his bills as money, they had clear indicators that they weren't real (like being one-sided), and he'd trade them for the equivalent amount in goods and services as a performance art.