A payroll document signed by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes is to cross the block at Christie's with a valuation of $30,000-50,000.
It will star in a sale of printed books and Americana from the collection of Charles E Sigety in New York on December 7.
 Cortes led the Spanish conquest of the Americas in the 16th century |
Cortes famously led the 16th Century Spanish conquest of the Americas, bringing down the Aztec empire in the process.
The lot dates to February 20, 1527 and reads: "[Nicholas López de] Palacios Rubios to give [the soldier] Melchor López y Escobedo sixty pesos of common gold in payment for his expenses in the Armada that I am preparing for the discovery of the Especería, and is to be reflected in his pay receipt…"
The reverse states: "Order of payment for Melchor y Escobedo for LX pesos."
Autographs from Cortes appear rarely at auction. Christie's counts just 11 sold in the past 40 years.
A whaling passport signed by US president William Henry Harrison while in office is expected to make an identical figure of $30,000-50,000.
Harrison died just 32 days into his presidency, likely as a result of drinking contaminated water from the Potomac River.
Autographs signed when he was in office are thus described by Christie's as "the greatest of presidential rarities".
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