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NOTOFILIA Numismatics and Notaphily
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United States · Pop art · Rency

Messi / You Have to Fight to Reach Your Dream · 2/222

One object: a Lionel Messi pop-art face on genuine legal-tender paper, serial F 71235101 A, and the back of a $2 (Declaration of Independence), manuscript edition 2/222.

Catalog facts

Pick reference
Rency · 2/222
Serial number
F71235101A
Signatures
Manuscript Rency / 2/222 (back); vertical RENCY at right on the face. The Treasury signatures sit under the overlay
Condition
Unslabbed (private collection)
Printage
Federal Reserve paper (BEP) with a Rency intervention. Manuscript edition 2/222 on the back. This record does not invent a BEP printage for the type, and it does not treat 2/222 as a population census.

Face

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Pop-art face on genuine legal-tender paper, serial F 71235101 A: Messi portraits, jersey 10, “life is beautiful,” “YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TO REACH YOUR DREAM!,” and vertical RENCY.

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Pop-art face on genuine legal-tender paper, serial F 71235101 A: Messi portraits, jersey 10, “life is beautiful,” “YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TO REACH YOUR DREAM!,” and vertical RENCY.
Pop-art face on genuine legal-tender paper, serial F 71235101 A: Messi portraits, jersey 10, “life is beautiful,” “YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TO REACH YOUR DREAM!,” and vertical RENCY.

Back

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Back of an FRN $2 (Declaration of Independence), with manuscript Rency, edition 2/222, and blue-and-white graffiti “LFG!” and “2022!”.

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Back of an FRN $2 (Declaration of Independence), with manuscript Rency, edition 2/222, and blue-and-white graffiti “LFG!” and “2022!”.
Back of an FRN $2 (Declaration of Independence), with manuscript Rency, edition 2/222, and blue-and-white graffiti “LFG!” and “2022!”.

The note

The face starts from a Federal Reserve Note: green serials F 71235101 A on a legal-tender engraved ground. Over that paper Rency overlays portraits of Lionel Messi in the Argentina kit: at left, a smile; at center, a more somber portrait with a raised fist; at right, lifting the World Cup. The corner 10s also read as his jersey number. The legends include “life is beautiful” in red cursive, “YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TO REACH YOUR DREAM!” in red stencil across the foot, and, vertically at right, RENCY; the ground repeats “MESSI” and “LEO” with paint splatters. The back is not a $1 Great Seal: it is the FRN $2 reverse, Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence, and, in marker, “Rency” and “2/222,” plus the graffiti “LFG!” and “2022!” in blue and white. It is one collectible — face and back of the same object — not two separately catalogued notes, and not a Treasury or BEP issue. Printed serial F71235101A also appears on Pelé / The Beautiful Game, on Life Is Beautiful / LIFE SPRAY, and on Warhol & Basquiat / Life Is Beautiful in this case; they are distinct physical objects. The match is recorded and does not merge the records.

The artist

Rency is the public name of this artist; on the paper the signature is often RENCY in capitals. The artist is an anonymous United States pop and street artist who works on genuine notes. Dealer copy that likens the work to Banksy is a sales line, not an attribution or a verified biography. This is not Rency Punnoose. Lionel Messi (b. 1987) is the subject: Argentina’s light-blue-and-white kit, the number 10, and the 2022 World Cup; “YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TO REACH YOUR DREAM!” and “life is beautiful” belong to the overlay. It does not duplicate Pelé / The Beautiful Game, another football hybrid with the same printed serial and edition 5/200. This record describes the physical object; it does not value the edition or republish auction prices.

Scarcity and printage

The artist numbered this piece 2/222. That fraction is an edition statement on the paper, not a PMG or PCGS census and not a BEP printage. This record does not publish an independent count of surviving examples. The Messi portraits, the 2/222, and the “LFG!” / “2022!” graffiti set the object apart from Pelé / The Beautiful Game and Life Is Beautiful / LIFE SPRAY, both 5/200 with the same printed serial, and from Warhol & Basquiat / Life Is Beautiful, the $2 intervened on both faces, with no edition fraction.

Population

A PMG or PCGS census for this object has not been independently verified. Printed serial F71235101A matches Pelé / The Beautiful Game, Life Is Beautiful / LIFE SPRAY, and Warhol & Basquiat / Life Is Beautiful; the match is recorded and does not merge the records. The note is shown unslabbed.

Sources

← Rency