Watch List notes:

Small gold disk, 373 grams, marked with 48, small double-slash and A/V monogram, ex-Luz (1752), ex-Sotheby's. 2-1/2" in diameter and 3/8" thick in center. Very neatly cast disk, perfectly round and even, with clear inscriptions on top, the number 48 most likely a serial number (as 47 and 49 were also found and offered in the same 1993 auction) but the monogram-AV (also found on other ingots in the 1993 auction), which looks like XX but is not, most likely referring to one of the Jesuit missions evacuated after the 1750 Treaty of Madrid or possibly related to a known consignment of gold ingots destined for the King himself from the governor general of the River Plate Provinces (who in 1704-8 was known to be Alonso de Valdes, a perfect candidate for an A/V monogram), overall an attractive piece with traces of grayish barnacle "footprints" on top. The fineness is estimated at 22K based on similar ingots from the same source that have been tested. From the Luz (1752), pedigreed to the original Uruguayan Treasure of the River Plate auction (Sotheby's New York, March 1993, lot #241) and to the Ponterio auction of June 1993 (lot #1259). Recovered from: Luz, sunk in 1752 off Montevideo, Uruguay

Estimate: $17500-35000