Banksy | Di-Faced Tenner

Banksy (b. c.1974)
Di-Faced Tenner
Offset lithograph | 2004

In 2004, Banksy printed one million pounds' worth of fake ten-pound notes substituting Princess Diana's face for the Queen's, and the words "Banksy of England" for "Bank of England." He distributed them at the Notting Hill Carnival. Some were spent in shops. The Bank of England noted that while the notes were clearly not legal tender, no prosecutions were pursued.

The Di-Faced Tenner is simultaneously one of Banksy's most accessible and most legally audacious works — a piece of paper whose resemblance to currency is close enough to generate genuine confusion and distant enough to constitute art rather than counterfeiting. It is also one of his most formally elegant: the substitution of Diana for Elizabeth creating a commentary on monarchy, celebrity, and the specific quality of female iconicity in Britain that is made entirely through the act of substitution rather than through any added visual element.

Pest Control Certificate of Authenticity. Available through Creed Gallery, Ascot, for collectors across Berkshire, Surrey, and London.

Offset lithograph | 2004
Pest Control Certificate of Authenticity