Reddit reviews Spanish Monuments and Trailmarkers to Treasure in the United States

First thing, is that there are ~2 types of treasure hunting. The first is essentially just metal detecting. Apparently you can find some neat stuff scouring the beaches and such places.

The second is where the fun really lies. I could go on and on about treasure trails and cache sites and other tips and tricks that one picks up along the way, but really the one thing you need to know is your history. How do you think Mel Fischer found the Atocha? Because he knew the stories, and those stories informed him about where to look.

Now, you live in Florida, a place that had a heavy duty Spanish presence. I did my treasure hunting in New Mexico, another place with a heavy duty Spanish past, so I can speak about this with a bit of authority. Learning about the Spanish, and their habits goes a long way toward finding what they left behind.

Unfortunately, they were primarily focused on mining, and there wasn't much mining in that region (unless I'm mistaken). So you'd be best served by finding where they settled and seeing what you can find in that area.

Additionally, there are a lot of stories about the Knights of the Golden Circle and the things they did during the War between the States. Apparently they stashed goods and material for the 'Second Uprising' or whatever they called it. There hasn't been any official proof of this, but you can read Shadows of the Sentinel and Rebel Gold to get an idea of the theory.

To boil it down, the Spanish, and to a lesser extent the South, would stash the gold and silver they acquired from mining so that when the Treasure Galleons arrived they could exhume them and send them back to Spain. In New Mexico, many of these cache sites are still undiscovered because the Pueblo Revolt somewhat foiled their plans. In Florida, ... I don't know. You'll have to do your research.

In general, keep an eye out for bent trees that are very old. These might be trail markers from the War between the States. Keep an eye out for rock pointers, these might be signs from the Spanish. Keep an eye out for old carvings on rocks and trees. These could be from the War.

The Spanish always put their signs on rocks sitting on rocks. Never on rocks on the ground. The story goes that when the Jesuits were excommunicated they gave the knowledge of the Spanish trail markers to others, so you will see some bastarization of the markers in years after 1760 (?). 'They' say that this is how the South got the knowledge of trail monumentation, because the Europeans were helping them. Probably playing both sides, but whatever.

As I said, I can go on about this topic in detail. Do your research, do your reading. If you can get a hold of Charles Kenworthy's books he gives a good overview of the rock monumentation the Spanish used. I've seen very good examples of this in the Southwest. This guy knows what he's talking about. Additionally, Rebel Gold and Shadows of the Sentinel, like I said, give a more modern day overview of research into the KGC.