(Fr)agile
1 work
Banksy DiFaced Tenners (Signed) For Sale
Banksy
DiFaced Tenners (Signed), 2004
Lithograph
17 3/8 x 11 3/4 in 44 x 30 cm
About this work
Banksy's "Di-Faced Tenner" is a well-known and provocative artwork that showcases the artist's penchant for subversion and his critique of societal norms and institutions. Created in 2004, this piece is a play on the traditional design of the British £10 note. Instead of featuring Queen Elizabeth II, Banksy replaced her image with that of the late Princess Diana, hence the pun in the title "Di-Faced" as a play on "defaced."In this counterfeit banknote, Princess Diana's portrait is accompanied by the text "Banksy of England" instead of the "Bank of England," adding an additional layer of humor and audacity. The traditional wording on the note is also altered. For example, "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten pounds" is changed to "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the ultimate price." This alteration can be interpreted as a commentary on the cost of fame and the role of the monarchy in modern Britain.The choice of Princess Diana for the banknote is particularly poignant, given her iconic status and the public's emotional response to her life and untimely death. By placing her on the currency, Banksy may be commenting on the commodification of figures in popular culture, especially those within the British monarchy, and the way in which they are consumed by the public and media."Banksy's Di-Faced Tenner" is not just a visual piece but also a physical object. Banksy reportedly printed a large number of these counterfeit notes and famously dropped a suitcase full of them at the Notting Hill Carnival and at the Reading Festival, leading to a brief period where they were circulated and used like real money by unsuspecting individuals. This act of distribution adds a performative aspect to the artwork, blurring the lines between art and reality.In terms of technique, the piece is a high-quality print that mimics the look and feel of real currency, demonstrating Banksy's skill and attention to detail. The "Di-Faced Tenner" is considered an important work in Banksy's portfolio, exemplifying his ability to combine art, social commentary, and performance to create pieces that are thought-provoking, humorous, and critical of societal structures and norms.
Price on Application
Auction History
DI-FACED TENNERS · Banksy · Sotheby's · 2020-03 · $36,063
Di-Faced Tenners · Banksy · Christie's · 2008-09 · $21,934
TWO DI-FACED TENNERS · Banksy · Lyon & Turnbull · 2020-08 · $2,311
RUDE SNOWMAN' - 2006, AND TWO 'DI-FACED TENNERS' · Banksy · Lyon & Turnbull · 2024-01 · $1,754
More from this series
More series by Banksy
About the Di-Faced Tenner Series
Banksy Di-Faced Tenner Prints For Sale
Banksy's Di-Faced Tenner series stands as one of the artist's most audacious explorations of institutional critique and economic subversion. Created in 2004, these works reimagine the Bank of England's ten-pound note by replacing Queen Elizabeth II's portrait with that of Princess Diana, while substituting the motto "Bank of England" with "Banksy of England." This conceptual intervention transforms legitimate currency into powerful commentary on celebrity culture, governmental authority, and the arbitrary nature of assigned value. The series gained notoriety when Banksy famously distributed these counterfeit notes at events including the Notting Hill Carnival and Reading Festival, blurring the boundaries between art, activism, and criminal mischief.
The technique employed in the Di-Faced Tenner series demonstrates Banksy's multimedia approach to printmaking. Working with actual currency as source material, the artist utilized sophisticated printing processes to create convincing facsimiles that function simultaneously as conceptual art objects and satirical provocations. The series includes unsigned variants and rare signed editions, with the Pink versions representing particularly coveted colorway iterations. Each piece maintains the aesthetic authenticity of genuine banknotes while incorporating subtle alterations that comment on monarchy, memorial culture, and the mechanisms through which societies construct and deconstruct value.
From a market perspective, the Di-Faced Tenner series occupies a significant position within Banksy's overall body of work, representing his evolution from street interventionist to fine art provocateur. The signed editions, particularly the DiFaced Tenners Pink (Signed) variant, command substantial collector interest due to their limited availability and historical importance within the artist's career trajectory. These works appeal to collectors seeking entry points into Banksy's print market while maintaining conceptual rigor comparable to his large-scale installations. The series exemplifies the artist's ability to generate cultural discourse while creating objects of enduring aesthetic and investment value.
For collectors and institutions seeking authenticated examples from this important series, Guy Hepner maintains expertise in Banksy's printed works and can provide provenance documentation and market guidance.
About Banksy
Banksy prints for sale at Guy Hepner include authenticated signed and unsigned editions: Girl with Balloon, Choose Your Weapon, Tesco Soup Cans, Fragile, Laugh Now, and Flower Thrower. Buy Banksy prints in New York through our gallery at 177 Tenth Avenue — all works sourced with full provenance and authentication documentation. We also buy Banksy art and offer free valuations for sellers.
Banksy is the world’s most celebrated anonymous street artist — a figure whose identity remains unknown but whose visual language is instantly recognisable across continents. Emerging from the Bristol graffiti scene in the early 1990s, Banksy developed a stencil-based technique that allowed rapid, precise execution on walls, bridges, and public surfaces from London and New York to Gaza and the West Bank. His work fuses dark humour, political provocation, and formal rigour in a way that has made him equally at home on the street and in the auction room. Today, Banksy art for sale represents one of the most dynamic and hotly contested segments of the contemporary secondary market.
Banksy Art For Sale
Banksy art for sale encompasses original spray-painted canvases, unique works on board, signed and unsigned print editions, and — on rare occasions — documented wall works sold with photographic authentication. The breadth of subjects he has addressed is remarkable: consumer capitalism (Tesco Soup Cans, Trolley Hunters), celebrity culture (Kate Moss, Andy Warhol), surveillance and control (Radar Rat, CCTV Watching), and hope and fragility (Girl with Balloon, Fragile).
The benchmark auction event in Banksy’s market history remains the October 2018 Sotheby’s London sale, when Girl with Balloon — having just sold for £1.04 million — was partially shredded by a device concealed in the frame, becoming Love is in the Bin. The reconstituted work subsequently sold in October 2021 for £18.5 million, underscoring the extraordinary commercial power of Banksy’s interventions and the appetite of the global collector base for his most iconic imagery.
Banksy Paintings For Sale
Banksy paintings for sale — unique spray-painted works on canvas or board — are the rarest and most valuable category of his output. These works, typically produced in small numbers for specific shows or commissions, carry full documentation from Pest Control and have appeared at auction with results ranging from six to eight figures. Choose Your Weapon, Monkey Parliament, and large-format stencil canvases from his early 2000s output represent the apex of private collector demand.
Provenance is paramount for Banksy paintings. Unbroken ownership history from first sale through to the present day, combined with a current Pest Control certificate, is the minimum standard for any serious acquisition. Works without this documentation carry substantial authentication risk regardless of visual appearance.
Banksy Prints: Signed vs Unsigned
Banksy print editions form the most accessible and widely traded category of his market. Published through his own distribution channels and in very limited numbers, these screenprints exist in signed and unsigned variants — a distinction that has a significant impact on value. Signed editions — with Banksy’s hand signature — command multiples of two to five times comparable unsigned editions in the same print run.
Key print series sought by collectors include: Girl with Balloon (multiple colourways), Choose Your Weapon, Kate Moss, Tesco Soup Cans, Fragile, Radar Rat, Flower Thrower, and Di-Faced Tenners. Edition sizes vary from as few as 150 to several hundred, and sell-through rates at auction confirm strong secondary demand across all major series.
Banksy Authentication: Pest Control
Pest Control is Banksy’s official authentication body and the only organisation authorised to certify works as genuine. When you buy Banksy prints or original art, a current Pest Control Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is the non-negotiable standard. The COA features a torn currency note — half retained by Pest Control, half with the work — as a security measure, and is registered against a specific edition and owner.
At Guy Hepner Gallery, every Banksy work offered for sale is accompanied by Pest Control documentation. We do not offer works without verified authentication, and our team is available to guide collectors through the acquisition process, including condition reporting, framing recommendations, and insurance valuation.
Ready to buy Banksy art? Contact Guy Hepner to explore our current inventory of authenticated Banksy prints and original works.