Moby Dick Coin Moby Dick Coin Known in the numismatic world as a "Moby Dick Coin", the Ecuadorian 8 Escudos doubloon, minted in Quito, Ecuador, between 1838 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 novel "Moby-Dick", in Chapter 36 "The Quarter Deck" and later at length in Chapter 99 "The Doubloon". It is often confused as a Spanish doubloon, but this coin was not struck by the Spanish crown or endorsed by the
Cetology of Moby-Dick Cetology of Moby-Dick The cetology of Moby-Dick is Ishmael's zoological classification of whales. Although a work of fiction, Melville included sequences of chapters concerned largely with a pseudo-objective discussion of the properties of whales. The observations, based on a list of sources in addition to Melville's own experiences in whaling in the 1840s, include observations of various species from the order of "Cetacea". These chapters are the most likely to be omitted in abridged versions of the novel. Ishmael's observations are not a complete scientific study, even by standards of the day. Nevertheless, because of the general lack of knowledge