Peter Rabbit Coin May Be The Cutest Ever Minted

Beatrix Potter's fictional bunny stars on a British 50 pence piece.

Peter Rabbit is on the money.

Beloved author Beatrix Potter's fictional bunny appears on a brand-new 50 pence piece released in Britain on Monday.

Printed in color, Peter wears his iconic blue jacket and appears to have a mischievous glint in his eye. It looks like he's about to thieve Mr. McGregor's tasty vegetables. (But it's probably just the way the metal shines.)

British coin designer Emma Noble designed the limited-edition silver proof coin to mark the 150th anniversary of Potter's birth in 1866. Only 15,000 have been made.

The limited-edition coins can be purchased on the Royal Mint website for about $76, but a cheaper, unlimited color version costs about $14 on the same site.

An uncolored version of the coin will go into general circulation later this year with an unlimited mintage, the Royal Mint told The Huffington Post. It will be worth 50 pence, or around 70 cents.

Peter Rabbit coins are available for purchase on the Royal Mint's website, and come in special boxes.
Peter Rabbit coins are available for purchase on the Royal Mint's website, and come in special boxes.
The Royal Mint

Three more of Potter's characters will appear on coins later this year to make a four-piece set. Their identities have not yet been revealed.

The flip side of each coin features a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

Noble said she wanted Potter's illustrations at "the forefront of my design as they are lovely images and the characters are very well known."

"I felt they were enough to stand alone and I designed them in this way as I thought they would work best for both the colored commemorative and un-colored circulating coins," she said in a statement. "I really hope people are pleased with them as a set."

Before the coin's release, the Royal Mint teased Peter Rabbit fans with this tweet on Sunday:

Noble previously worked on a coin commemorating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Peter Rabbit will also star in a previously unpublished book by Potter, who died at age 77 in 1943, that's slated for release in September. The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots will include illustrations by Quentin Blake, perhaps best known for illustrating author Roald Dahl's books.

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