A homeless man begging on a busy street was handed a rare coin, potentially worth thousands of euro.

According to reports the man was sitting on High Street, Exeter in Devon in the UK for several hours asking passers by for change.

Patrolling police moved him on as begging is illegal in the UK and it was during this exchange that the discovery was made.

The Metro is reporting that the man showed the unusual 50p coin to officers who queried whether it was was one of the special coins launched in memory of children’s author Beatrix Potter.

The police officer used his smartphone to check the price of the coin and spotted a similar one on sale for £10,000 (€11,764) on eBay.

The coins were produced by the Royal Mint last year the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter.

They are the first children’s fictional characters to appear on British coins and they proved incredibly popular with silver special editions selling out in just eight days.

Although they cost £55 (€64.70) new, they change hands on eBay for considerably more.

Online Editors