An ancient and rare Greek papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John was nearly sold on eBay - with an opening bid of just $99 (£65).

Doctor Geoffrey Smith, a scholar of early Christianity at the University of Texas, noticed the fragment on eBay and urged the seller to halt the auction.

"I thought: This can't be allowed to sell on eBay," Dr Smith told the New York Times. "It will just disappear into a private collection."

The credit card sized papyrus, which Dr Smith says dates from around 250 to 350 AD, contains about six lines of the Gospel of John on one side and an unidentified Christian text on the other.

He says if his analysis is correct, it is the only known Greek New Testament papyrus from an unused scroll rather than a codex.

(xselect55/eBay)

In the listing, the seller said the fragment "literally fell out of a stack of letters" belonging to Harold R Willoughby, a professor of early Christianity at the University of Chicago who died in 1962.

“The fact that this one came to light on the Internet speaks to the reality for all of us who deal with manuscripts and antiquities,” Dr. Smith added.