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
Project Moby Dick included Project Skyhook, Project Mogul, Project Grandson, and Project Genetrix. The previously conducted "Project Moby Dick" used much smaller balloons launched from what was called a "Covered Wagon". Their payloads were then tracked across the continental United States to map and study high altitude wind trajectories. Project Flying Cloud, Weapons System 124A, was a derived concept to use balloons to deliver weapons of mass destruction. Project Moby Dick Project 119L was a Cold War reconnaissance operation by the U.S. Air Force in which large balloons floated cameras over the Soviet Union. The spy balloons would photograph sensitive Soviet sites and