Fake bank notes carrying the faces of now Prime Minister Boris Johnston and North East Somerset Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg have been added to the British Museum’s collection.

The notes produced by anti-Brexit campaign group Bath for Europe were distributed in their thousands locally but have now drawn national attention.

They have been deemed of enough historical value to be part of the British Museum.

Claiming to be from the “Bank of Brexit lies” the Johnson design for £350m reads in the fine print: “I promise not to pay the NHS the sum of £350m pounds.”

The £50 guinea Rees-Mogg version from the “Imperial Bank of Brexit for the privileged few” has the fine print: “I promise to pay myself more than you,” and the ‘Latin’ motto “Arrogantus Toffo Posterium.”

Bath for Europe's parody money
Bath for Europe's parody money

Tom Hockenhull, the museum’s curator of modern money, told the Guardian: “We collect things because they represent economic, social and political history, and so we want these in the collection.

“There’s a long tradition of making parody bank notes for the purposes of spreading a political message or advertising a particular viewpoint, and these fit into that genre.”

He said the museum would also collect pro-Brexit banknotes if any were available.

The notes are available for download from Bath for Europe’s website.

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