And finally…Peter Rabbit to become first children’s character to appear on a UK coin

The mischievous bunny will feature on a special commemorative silver 50p coin released in honour of the 150th anniversary of the writer’s birth in 1866.

Three more Potter characters will feature on coins set to be released later in the year to complete the four-piece set, the Royal Mint confirmed.

It is the second set of coins released to celebrate the the sesquicentenary of Potter’s birth, with both gold and silver 50p pieces unveiled at the start of the year.

Uncoloured versions of the coins featuring the designs will be released into general circulation after the specialist coins have been released.

The designs were drawn up by the Royal Mint’s Emma Noble, who has previously created Diamond Jubilee and Remembrance Sunday commemorative coins.

She said: “I wanted to put Beatrix Potter’s illustrations to the forefront of my design as they are lovely images and the characters are very well known.

“I felt they were strong enough to stand alone and I designed them in this way as I thought they would work best for both the coloured commemorative and uncoloured circulating coins.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit - telling the story of a determined vegetiable thief - was an instant hit when it was first published in 1902 by Frederick Warne & Co.

Peter went on to appear in five further books by the author.

Potter died in 1943 at the age of 77.