Moby Dick Coin

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Known in the numismatic world as a "Moby Dick Coin", the Spanish 8 Escudo doubloon, minted in Quito, Ecuador, between 1839 and 1843, is the one ounce of gold "sixteen dollar piece" Captain Ahab nails to the mast of the Pequod, promising it to the first man who "raises" Moby-Dick. The coin is first mentioned in Herman Melville's book "Moby-Dick", in Chapter 36 "The Quarter Deck" and later at length in Chapter 99 "The Doubloon".