When is a 50p worth more than 50p?

When it's one of the Royal Mint's limited edition 50p coins.

And this rare Peter Rabbit coin sold for £840 on eBay earlier this month, The Mirror reports.

The Royal Mint has produced a wide collection of special edition designs gracing its coins from 10p pieces to £5 coins and even a £50 Britannia coin.

But the coins bearing Peter Rabbit and other Beatrix Potter character designs are particularly valuable among coin collectors.

The special edition coloured Peter Rabbit 50p coin introduced in 2016.

The Beatrix Potter coins were produced by the Royal Mint in 2016 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the children's author who creations also include Benjamin Bunny, Jemima Puddle Duck and Tom Kitten.

The mint issued two versions of each: a coloured collectors' coin and a regular monochrome design which you may find in your change — if you're very lucky.

Shortly after, they started appearing on eBay for far more than 50p.

And it seems the demand is still there.

In 2017, the Royal Mint released a further four Peter Rabbit coins — however available to buy exclusively online only.

The 2016 Beatrix Potter 50p coins rank highly in the scarcity list , with Jemima Puddle-Duck and Squirrel Nutkin coming in at numbers 6 and 7 – based largely on the fact that not many people own them and they are in very high demand.