A METAL disc thought to have belonged to famous fossil collector Mary Anning has been found on a Lyme Regis beach.

The item was discovered by a metal detectorist on Church Cliff beach and has been donated to Lyme Regis Museum.

The mystery token has puzzled museum staff.

David Tucker, director of Lyme Regis Museum, said: "The significance of the coin is really interesting in that we simply have no real idea of why it was made, and what its connection with Mary Anning might be.

"I think there's a potentially fascinating story behind it.

"Mary's father was a cabinet maker, and the disc looks like the metal blanks that I believe cabinet makers use in making handles for drawers."

The token is roughly 25mm in diameter and is 1mm thick. It is an alloy, possibly brass and is not corroded or coated with concretion.

Inscribed on one side is 'Mary Anning MDCCCX' meaning 1810, while on the reverse are the words 'Lyme Regis Age XI'.

In 1810, Mary was 11 years old and had yet to find the first ichthyosaur and the plesiosaur which made her famous.

Mary’s dad, Richard Anning, could well have made it for his daughter as an 11th birthday token. As a cabinet maker, he had the tools to impress a metal disc as he would have had made metal labels for his furniture.

Making the disc for his daughter may have been one of his last actions, and perhaps a way of showing affection for the daughter his poverty and ill health meant he could do little for.

"Richard Anning died in Nov 1810, and this was before Mary made her great discovery a year later," added Mr Tucker.

"The Annings weren't well off, and I wonder if Richard made it as a keepsake for his daughter.

"By the sound of things he knew he wasn't going to live long, but we could be entirely wrong. It's a really puzzling item."

The token was found on the beach below Church Cliffs which is where Mary could well have lost it during a fossil collecting expedition.

Mary’s home, battered and damaged by wind and weather, was demolished at the end of the 19th century to make way for the construction of Lyme Regis Museum on the site. The token could have landed on the beach below during the process.

Visitors are encouraged to come and see the token at the museum and decide for themselves the mystery of the Mary Anning Token.