Jon Racherbaumer has done extensive research into this plot. He sources the plot back to Joseph Prieto's “The Stapled Card” in Scarne On Card Tricks, 1950, p. 110-113.
Other notable versions include Paul Harris and Looy Simonoff's “Stapled!” in Las Vegas Close-up, 1978, p. 19-25, Jay Sankey's “Trio” in 100% Sankey, 1990, p. 27-31, and David Harkey's “Twins” in Ah-Ha!, 1997, p. 25-28.