The Ais Indians that lived along the East Coast from about St. Augustine down to below Ft. Pierce did a lot of wreck salvaging from the Spanish Galleons and other ships that had gone down along the coast over the years. I read an account written by a French sailor who had survived a shipwreck in the 1700's and had been picked up by the Ais for transport to St. Augustine. The Ais had a deal with the Spanish to send all Europeans they found along their coast to the Spanish authorities there. The sailor was astounded by all the silver and gold he saw in the Ais village while he was there living with them before being moved north.
The Ais only grew one crop - tobacco, and either foraged wild foods, or raided inland for anything else they wanted, and had a reputation as being very warlike. The Spanish had a tough time with them, but they were finally decimated by smallpox and other European diseases and by the late 1700's they no longer existed as a tribal entity. As their power waned I imagine that they had to trade for the goods they once took by force.
So, yeah, could be reales that were in the process of being beaten into jewelry, or whatever. I'd search that area again and dig any gold frequencies too, in fact I'd search that area with the biggest coil you can get for your machine and dig all the metal out. Good luck and keep us posted on what you find. Cheers!!
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