Bidding reaches $30,000 for ‘holy’ pebble
The bidding on TradeMe for a pebble with what appears to be an image of the Virgin Mary on it, has shot up to almost $30,000.
Lisa Coolett found the small stone while fossicking on the Kaikoura coast 18 months ago.
She says although she is not religious, she has had a string of good luck since the find - and is now selling the pebble to raise money for a dentist's visit.
The pebble which is no bigger than a nail. 
Lisa-Marie Corlett, a woman who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand has found a one centimeter wide pebble that supposedly shows the image of the Virgin Mary. She found the pebble while walking on a beach on the South Island of New Zealand.

Since finding the pebble, Coolett has stated that she has had some "good luck" lately, despite the fact that she does not practice any religion.

Coolett put the pebble up for auction on the popular New Zealand internet auction site ''Trade Me'' with a buy now of NZ$70,000. Later, she lowered the buy-now price to NZ$50,000. An American woman clicked the buy-now. "Trade Me business manager Mike O'Donnell said a phone call to the bidder to verify the offer was met with "a serious intake of breath," followed by a long silence. Mr O'Donnell said the person had not expected the bid to be taken seriously.". The highest bid prior to the $50,000 click was for $5000. The highest bid at the moment sits at NZ$30,900.50. Rumors that Coolett had decided to sell the pebble to an American lady who previously bought a piece of toast that supposedly had an image of the Virgin Mary on it, have been denied by her as mere hearsay.

"If someone is willing to pay 28,000 dollars for a piece of toast, I'm sure someone out there would pay at least that for a rock," said Coolett. 

Skeptics generally attribute such appearances to pareidolia.