Coin dropped into charity collection can turns out be worth thousands of dollars

An overseas coin left in a charity collection can in Scotland has turned out to be worth £1,462 ($2790), in what has been described as a "Christmas cracker".

The 2015 American Gold Buffalo 50-dollar coin was donated to Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) and was stored among other foreign rejects from its coin counting machine.

The real value of the coin was discovered after it had been languishing in storage and before being sent to a foreign currency exchange.

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The charity said because it has collection cans throughout Scotland it had no idea where the coin was donated.

When the cans are emptied and counted any foreign, out-of-date or misshapen coins are put in a box, said SCAA community fundraising manager Kate Loades said.

"When we have enough foreign coinage, it is sent for conversion to sterling for our funds," she said.

"It could have been donated anywhere in Scotland. All we know is that we're hugely grateful to whatever kind person parted with their US coin to support the work of SCAA.

"Their generosity helps us to respond to critical injury and illness wherever we're needed in Scotland, so we thank them for making one of our collection cans a real Christmas cracker."

The American Buffalo coin contains 31.1 grams of pure gold and was first issued for sale by the US Mint in 2006.

Since then its value has jumped due to the rise in the price of gold and the coin's popularity.