The letter "J" on the commemorative coin, specially produced by the Italian State Mint, was instead engraved with an "L", and so appeared as "Lesus" in the Latin inscription.

The medals – 200 in gold, 3,000 in silver and 3,000 in bronze – had been on sale for a day before the blunder was noticed, and led to their hasty recall.

However, only four had been sold and are now predicted to rocket in value for the lucky buyers due to their rarity.

Measuring more than 4cm in diameter, the medals include a portrait of Pope Francis on the front side and on the reverse a religious citation, which it is reported first moved the pontiff to become a priest as a teenager back in the 1950s.

It should have read: "Vidit ergo Jesus publicanum et quia miserando atque eligendo vidit, ait illi sequere me", which in English translates as: "Jesus saw the tax collector and by having mercy chose him as an Apostle saying to him: Follow me."

Pope Francis was elected earlier this year

The spelling mistake was soon picked up by Twitter users, with one quipping: "Wonder how Mary's husband Loseph feels about it."

Another wrote: “I blame the Lesuits.”

The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first Jesuit to become pope.

He replaced Pope Benedict, who stepped down as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics in February because of frail health.