Ben,

With the potential discrepancy in site occupation and coin date, is it
possible that the coins were recirculated?  I recall a similar situation
in Michigan with 16th century French coins appearing on a late 17th
century mission site (see references below).  You may want to contact
Russ Skowronek on these coins as well.  His email is  [log in to unmask]
- he has significant experience with Spanish sites in the Southeast as
well as California.

Skowronek, Russel and Max Houck
1990 The Non-Destructive Identification of Worn Coins from the
Marquette Mission Site, St. Ignace, Michigan. American Antiquity,
55(2):337-347.

Skowronek, Russell
1988 Of Countermarks and Coins: The Earliest French Issues in the New
World. Michigan Archaeologist 34(3):43-50.

Cheers,





Sean B. Dunham, RPA
Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.
Phone:  517-788-3550 / FAX:  517-788-6594
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
http://www.ccrginc.com