Thanks, Norminn, but I'm looking to see if there's some other type of
sanding medium. The nail heads are supposed to stick up slightly. The edges
of the nail heads are down at or below the surface. But their shape lets
the blunt center stick up. These are cut nails with a forged head. Not the
same as standard cut nails. It really is a nice look, and all my moulding
has the same nails.
It still may rip the paper, but not as bad as the edges of a normal nail
would. I was wondering if there was some medium such as Scotch-brite, or
maybe even some wire wheel. The flooring is pine, so it doesn't need to be
super aggressive.
Bottom line is that you're removing 1/16" or so of floor, and the
nails should be sunk that much lower. As for sanding, there's nothing
new out there that won't shred on the nail heads. Sounds like you're
going to have to sand the floor with a hand unit instead of a drum
sander.

Call your professional for the best advice.