The Moby-Dick Doubloon: A Replica Coin Inspired by Herman Melville

The world’s only detailed replica of the famous Moby-Dick doubloon. Plated in 24K gold and delivered in a handsome wood-and-velvet display case, it’s the ultimate gift for hardcore Moby-Dick fans.

This carefully crafted coin reproduces the design of the gold doubloon that figures prominently in Moby-Dick. The coin described in the book is an actual coin minted by the Republic of Ecuador in the 1830s and 40s. Why So Ever’s Moby-Dick coin is a 24K gold-plated modern reproduction of the 1838 minting, featuring the famous trio of mountain peaks on one side and the lesser-known “Libertad” head on the other.

The coin has a diameter of is 1.75" (44mm) and is approximately an eighth of an inch thick (3mm). Like Ahab’s coin, it weighs about an ounce. (Unlike Ahab’s coin, it is not solid gold: it’s die-struck in zinc and electroplated in gold.) It comes in a handsome wooden display case with a light cedar varnish finish, a glass top, and a black velvet interior that shows off the coin’s luster.

In the book, a series of characters look at the doubloon and say what they think it means. Ahab looks at the three mountaintops and decides that they all represent himself. Starbuck says that the bright sun above the dark valley symbolizes God’s superintendency of the universe, even its evil parts. Stubb concludes that the coin depicts a jolly romp through life, and so on. In the end, it seems like the doubloon itself doesn’t really mean anything; we see in it whatever want to see. The white whale is the same way. And maybe the universe is, too.

U.S. shipping is free; to Canada, $10; elsewhere, $20.