A German Enigma coding machine has sold for more than £85,000

14 November 2012

Rare German World War Two Enigma machine which scrambled the code broken
by Bletchley Park experts is sold for £85,000A keen buyer from the US
secured the historic machine

- A keen buyer from the US secured the historic machine
- The Enigma was the most advanced machine of it's kind
- Using a system of rotors, it sent encoded messages via Morse code

By Thair Shaikh

A German Enigma coding machine has sold for more than £85,000.
The rare device went under the hammer today and estimates expected it to
sell for £40,000 to £60,000.

However, a lively bidding session at Bonhams in Knightsbridge saw it fetch
an impressive £85,250.

Auction officials said there was a lot of interest with a large number of
online and phone buyers joining those bidding in the auction room.
A keen buyer from the US made the final bid and secured the historic machine.

Built by Heimsoeth and Rinke in 1941, the oak-encased machine, which
encrypted German codes during the Second World War, is the three-rotor
version, used between 1938 and 1944.
Patented by HA Koch at the end of the First World War, the device was
intended for commercial purposes but by 1939 the majority of Enigma
machines had been appropriated for German military use..../snip/


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