Banksy smiley Reaper Men's T-shirt 

About this image:

Other names: Wrong War/Smiley-Face Reaper/Scrutton Street Smiley Grim Reaper/Grin Reaper

Location: Scrutton Street, East London, 2004

One of Banksy's earliest stencil graffiti street art pieces from East London, the image was later used on placards at the ‘Stop the War’ demonstrations in 2003.

In February 2013, a print version of Wrong War was recovered by police investigating a suspected fraud. The piece, along a signed print of ‘No Ball Games’ was bought by a customer in South London for £12,990. Two weeks after delivering them to the buyer, the dealer who sold the works learned that the credit cards used to buy the pieces had been unauthorized. The suspected fraud came to light when the art dealer received bank letters stating that the cards used to buy the images did not have the authorisation of the cardholders. Both payments were canceled and refunded to the cardholders, leaving the dealer without the artworks and out of pocket. Police arrested a man in Plumstead, South London, on 8 February. The man was bailed pending further inquiries. The Metropolitan Police began an investigation when, in the meantime, the same buyer contacted the art dealer once again in an effort to buy more Banksy artwork. Officers were informed about this order and subsequently made the arrest.