London, April 24 (IANS) An ancient Buddhist artefact which was being used as a doorstep and was valued at 30,000 pounds has been sold for more than 500,000 pounds.
The granite relic was given to Bronwen Hickmott's parents by a tea planter who returned to Britain from Sri Lanka in the 1950s. She inherited the 2.4m-long stone from her mother and father and began using it as a doorstep at her home in Exeter, Devon - affectionately calling it "the pebble", Daily Mail reported.
An expert spotted the one tonne stone in a photograph and later confirmed it was actually a Buddhist temple step - up to 1,300 years old.
It was put up for auction with a pre-sale estimate of 30,000 to 50,000 pounds, but sold Tuesday for over 10 times as much -- 553,250 pounds (about $845,300)
Hickmott said she was feeling "over the moon" at the sale.
