I added the film "Moby Dick" to my "Coins in Movies" webpage. The 1956 Warner Brothers film "Moby Dick" has a famous scene where the captain of a whaling ship nails a gold coin to the mast as a reward for the seaman who first spots a "special" whale. The film is based on Herman Melville's famous 1851 novel about an 1840's whaling voyage commanded by a Captain Ahab who is obsessed with pursuing and killing a white whale named "Moby Dick". The film stars Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, Richard Basehart as Ishmael, Friedrich Ledebur as Queequeg, and was directed by John Huston. 01. Captain Ahab with the gold doubloon 02. The gold doubloon nailed to the mast The coin is a gold Ecuador Republic 8 Escudos or "doubloon". These particular types were minted from 1838 to 1843 in Quito, Ecuador. The coin reads "REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR / QUITO / M.V." Although the captain calls the coin an "ounce", it is actually around 8/10 of an ounce of gold, worth then around $16 US dollars. The coin in the film is no doubt a prop coin, possibly minted on one side only. Real coins of this type sell for $10,000 to over $20,000, they are sometimes called "Moby Dick coins" due to their mention in the book.
like this one? interesting, but i had no idea what that coin would look like.. http://www.coinfactswiki.com/wiki/Ecuador_1843-MV_8_escudos
