The focus returns to Ahab's egocentrism and his obsession with hunting the White Whale. As he and several other characters observe the "doubloon," the coin nailed to the mainmast and promised to the man who first sights Moby Dick, each reflects on the meaning of the coin's decorations in a way that reveals his own character. Only Ahab sees himself in the coin.
The shining gold doubloon has the words "REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR: QUITO" inscribed around its border. On the face are three Andes Mountain peaks. From one comes a flame; another features a tower; on the third is a crowing cock. A portion of the zodiac arches over the coin, complete with appropriate occult signs. The sun appears at Libra. Melville suspends Ishmael's third-person narration as we move within the thoughts of each of the coin's observers.
The coin is like a mirror of the soul. Ahab sees himself in the "three peaks as proud as Lucifer" on the coin's face. For him, the tower is Ahab: firm and resolute. The volcano is Ahab: seething, powerful. The rooster is Ahab: courageous, undaunted, victorious. He thinks that the coin is "like a magician's glass, to each and every man in turn [it] but mirrors back his own mysterious self."
