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Cool! WWII German Enigma Machine on eBay

cgi.ebay.com — This is pretty cool. Fine example of a WW II Enigma cipher machine in a very good condition and a great history; full functional on eBay. 100% Original!!!

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  • Petrarch1603, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Digg! Very cool and rare.
  • Wabem, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15Definatly one of the coolest ebay items ive ever seen. This goes at the top with the Mary Mother of Jesus Cheese Sandwich.
  • secretdiffusion, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2One bid... I guess he's the only one that has enough money... $12,000... cool digg.
    • logicalnoise, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5not just 12,000 dollars, it's 12,000 EUROS!
  • madholepunch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17pretty rad, but how sick would it be if you had a buddy with one?
    • airedale, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4About as sick as using PGP :)
    • Angostura, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Well, if you're buddy *doesn't* have one, you're not going to able to pass messages, are you?
    • marquis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why? It has been cracked, right? I mean, that is what the whole story is about after all.
    • inotocracy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It wasn't cracked per-say, it was just that the cipher they were using was cracked. If they would have kept rotating their ciphers it wouldn't have been a problem. There are still, if I remember correctly, 2 enigma encrypted documents that have yet to be decyphered.
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The 4 rotor model was never broken. The 3 rotor model was pretty well owned by Bletchley park. But you're right the Germans didn't follow good procedures.
  • grzelakc, on 10/12/2007, -5/+38Holding off for now. Not buying one 'til a crack for it comes out.
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -31/+12It was cracked a long time ago. Helped the Allies win the war.
    • RickySan65, on 10/12/2007, -8/+24"It was cracked a long time ago. Helped the Allies win the war"

      Ehm.. you don't recognize sarcasm if it stared you in the face eh?
    • ralphmalph, on 10/12/2007, -10/+11sarcasm... stare him in the face? i don't think that's possible. certainly you over-estimate sarcasm.
  • omenmedia, on 10/12/2007, -9/+20Lrnu vg'f pbby ohg pna vg qb EBG13? (naq lbh ner nyzbfg nf zhpu n areq nf zr sbe genafyngvat guvf!) :Q
    • thebigkahuna, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I saw that gen too it was really cool. Times like these make me wish I was given 2.8M in investor money.
    • schadenfreude52, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Hot damn, I guess I am a nerd.
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Almost? Is it bad that I could read bits of the cyphertext straight?
    • ralvarezm, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1vg'f jnl zber pbby guna EBG-13, naq lrf vg frrzf v'z n areq :C
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Rotors I:D II:i III:G Stecker-board: E:L, R:X

      BXECE PCRDL YVVHU MGRVB SSKRR
    • Spartacus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2SKKZ FKCQ GXLT UFVZ OENE ZBJW DYJD WVRA
    • NJank, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2AEUT UEES ELLNT UGBB
    • Udjat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1UYMCO BLHHF RZRDP FZSPR UYZQX WAGRN TSAGX MSOQL MVBQH
    • idonthack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1BNMU CKTU JOGF UCZS TSXF EUWF UDBD PJQH PAFY
    • Khlept0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5STFU STFU STFU STFU STFU STFU STFU STFU STFU
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just for the fun of it:

      YKXP MJQY AXUC WXNV SNWU BUIL LVTW BSZO TKSL

      and no it's not gibberish :)
  • geneticerror, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1it would be cool to own a piece of history. too bad the bidding is too high for me.
  • pigsbladder, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3I have one already
    • whizzbang, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3How much did you pay for it? Would be good to know the "Market price"
    • cranium, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4(He says he's already GOT one...)
    • Demarche, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Oh, yes, it's very nice-a.
      I told him we already got one.
    • blugu64, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Well, u-- um, can we come up and have a look?
  • helladude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Odd that there is no background on how the current owner came into possession. What about government claims of ownership?
    • suso, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Can you say 5 finger discount? I'd say this is either stolen or a fake. I think one was stolen from a museum a few years back and tried to sell it on ebay, it was confiscated and returned.
    • costoa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15The machine being sold is the most common of the German WWII Enigma machines (Wehrmacht Enigma) and can be found for sale in many places. Ten years ago they were selling for about ~$5k USD in excellent and complete shape. Now a four wheel (Kriegsmarine M4) or an Abwehr would be very cool to own but would cost much, much, much more.

      Think of it as the Fender Telecaster of the crypto world. =)
    • Demarche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9@ suso

      A fake? Didn't you read the headline? That thing's "100% Original!!!" That's three "!'s!" I think it's fair to say that we can safely dismiss any possibility of this device being a fake!
  • xb00t, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Wonder if I could run some files trough it and get them encrypted at the output...
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4If you encoded the files with something like UUEncode which didn't output any characters the machine does not have, yes, you could.
  • rxbandit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Is this the same type of machine that was on the German U-Boat in U-571? Wonder how many Enigma machines still exist. Would be a very very cool piece of history to own.
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15Well, U-571 didn't exist (at least not the one in the movie), but in the movie they were refering to a Kriegsmarine Engima. More importantly (and slightly glossed over in the movie) was the capture of the codebook with the daily settings.. Blechsley park already had their hands on Enigmas. They were commercially available before the war, although IIRC the naval versions had four rotors. I think that movie was based on a combination of the capture of U-505 and a U-boat captured by the British whos designation escapes me at the moment.
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9My apologies for misspelling Bletchley.
    • Nik420, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I love how a hollywood movie about a British raid turns into an American one :P
    • B0jangles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Vinnie Jones so should of been in that movie
    • RealmySG1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1While agree that the U571 is about a rediculous movie as you can get, the U505 was captured by the U.S. Navy, so I suppose that it's possible that's where they got the idea from....

      ...but you're right, it's more likely pea-brained hollywood types :-)

      For those of you close to Chicago, you can see the U505 exhibit at the MSI (pretty cool, been there a few times): http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/
    • chimona, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I remember going there when i was young and looking through the periscope. chi-town *****.
  • Jaan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5There is a collector who goes to the M.I.T. flea market every year who owns a few of them ... they're not that rare. I think he has one for sale. Anyone in the Boston area should go and check it out;

    http://web.mit.edu/w1mx/www/swapfest.html
  • norbiu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I've always told my friend I would buy him an Enigma Machine! hah, if only I were rich.

    superb machinery!
  • spiritflare1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12very cool.. for those of us who can't afford the asking price, here's an enigma simulator off wiki: http://www.enigmaco.de/

  • Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Wow, that could sell for quite a lot, probably some big security company to put in a hallway or something. :)
  • burningheretic6, on 10/12/2007, -14/+1I want me an aircraft carrier.
  • SoccerBoy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2This is really kewl. I didn't think there where very many of these flouting around. I was under the impression there was a handful in museums and that was about it.

    Nice find

    DIGG!!!
  • seb1235, on 10/12/2007, -9/+0I want one...
  • koifish, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Oh money, why can't you be mine ? until I can afford a 12k bid
    on Ebay I fall back to the Enigma paper machine...

    http://mckoss.com/Crypto/Enigma.htm
  • Zidion, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2that is bad ass.
  • slapout, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4But unless your friend has one too, you can't communicate! :-)
  • jmholloway, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2what is an enigma machine?
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Back to middle-school with you.
    • lifeinanalog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Seriously, not everyone knows what an Enigma Machine is. I don't think I even knew in Middle-school. It was in High school when they taught us what an Enigma Machine was. Not to mention, how quick they glossed over it to get back to how bad Hitler was. To answer your question jmholloway, I took this from Wikipedia and you can read more about it there.

      "In the history of cryptography, the Enigma was a portable cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. More precisely, Enigma was a family of related electro-mechanical rotor machines %u2014 comprising a variety of different models."

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine

      Hope this answered your question.
    • djdole, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Regardless of the fact that not everyone knows what an Enigma Machine is,
      There are 3 WELL KNOWN tools ANYONE can use to find out.
      1. Google (Ok...so not EVERYONE can use this...China, you're screwed.)
      2. Wikipedia (Ok...again...not everyone,...Schools, you're screwed. Go low-tech and use the Encyclopedia.)
      Use them, and do at least a LITTLE research before asking a DUMB-ARSE question.

      Oh yeah...and #3...the easiest.....
      Your MOUSE.
      Click the link and READ the DESCRIPTION (not all of it is in German!)
      ...and if reading is still to much for you...there ARE pictures.

      /Not pissed or trying to troll,... just want people to stop being lazy/stupid and get the easy-to-find information for themselves.
  • sfacets, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Where can I buy a V1 Rocket?
  • dasunst3r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Spiffy... looks like something fun for people to take and reverse-engineer to see how it works and stuff... :D
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4You are being sarcastic, I hope.. this is probably one of the most well documented pieces of crypto-hardware on earth. Heck, you can get simulator programs that allow you to take it apart.

      As far as mechanically, it's the love child of a typewriter (actually more an actual keyboard since it's electric) and an odometer. Electrically, it's not much more than wires, switches, and lamps. The complexity of the machine is more in it's output/reconfigurability than in it's actual operation.
    • MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes, and the documentation makes it a good candidate for someone to learn about such systems by trying to replicate the reverse-engineering that was done many years ago.
  • rwelsh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I especially love the part on the eBay posting that reads: "Condition: USED."
  • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I dare say that one is a bit nicer than the one in the World Peace museum in Caen.. Although theirs is an early commercial model with the nifty "Enigma" brand name stamped into the cover where this one has what appears to be military markings. What I'd like to see is the four rotor model.

    Anyone have a translation of the text from the inner cover? I took pictures from some other enigmas but I've never found a translation or someone who could translate for me.
  • geekchic, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it!
  • geekchic, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1dupp
  • ralphmalph, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3they have one of these at the National Cryptologic Museum (NSA). http://www.nsa.gov/museum/museu00007.cfm ... last time i was there, it was possible to type on it. also there's a pretty good novel about the whole crew in Bletchley Park that worked 'round the clock to crack that sucker. http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/ ... The book is called... yup, you guesed it... "Enigma".
  • Bitcypher, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2THAT IS SO RIDICULOUSLY COOL!!!
  • sailcat46, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Can't buy it, but I saved the picture. I'm going to turn it into a "My Computer" icon.
  • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Here are some more for sale if you happen to be wealthy:

    http://w1tp.com/4sale/
  • DarthTurducken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nice, but I'm still waiting for the lost MITS Altair 8800 prototype to show up there.
  • billyboobs34, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3Did they clean off the Jew blood?
  • altempo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2ahhhh.... Nothin' like the old QWERTZ keyboard layout. They sure don't make 'em like they used to.
  • DarthTurducken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There's a good movie about with Kate Winslet, worth checking it out if you're into this kind of stuff.
  • tobsterius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If i had the cash I would love to own this... It would be a really nice conversation piece. Plus you can keep it for a good 30 or so years and then sell it to a museum when they are even rarer.
  • adlep, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Uber cool...
    :D
  • nilsth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think I read somewhere that there were made 30 000 of these. Would be cool to have one.
  • cebbs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love how it says condition: used... no you think?
  • GeniusCube, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its a three wheel version :( Id love to find one of the four wheel varieties up for grabs, but they are as rare as wooden horse droppings. Its in surprisingly good condition though, still, they were built to withstand depthcharges and the like I imagine. The ironic thing is that this probably made them very hard to destroy in the event of capture!
  • kritond, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0wow this is very impressive. i didnt know they were sort of common as others have stated. I read an interesting book, The Code Book by Simon Singh. It gives a history of encryption through the ages, and the longest section concerns the Enigma machines, a very impressive piece of machinery, but even more impressive were the British and Polish guys that cracked the code!
    • Kitsune818, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What I liked about that book was that they actually described how the Bombe worked, and Turings relation to everything.
  • barata, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It's no use, the code's been broken. ;-)
  • ITDefPat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Check out the related article about someone that built a repro at http://www.schneier.com/blog/
  • habenneas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1ZNOEEBQEXZXJJSBLYCTYEXDAGBUPMOYXNHQFTNLUWKBQXLDMUOMMRJEI
  • NJank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2So, is someone from France going to bitch (unfoundedly) about Nazi paraphernalia now?
    • andreux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0yeah, I thought eBay banned Nazi paraphernalia
  • JayWright, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think the keyboard is really interesting... almost QWERTY, but not quite. I wonder why they went with that order of keys... i don't think I could type on it!
    • Zipko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I looked at it and wondered where the umlout(sp) keys are. Did they just leave off those little dots when sending messages?
  • bookishboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Although it doesn't have the name-value associated with the Enigma machine, there is another and supposedly better model available here:
    http://www.grand-illusions.com/toyshop/nema_machine/
    Apparently the Germans shared the Enigma technology with the neutral Swiss (no doubt to thank them for funnelling money through their banks) and the Swiss promptly improved on the system. They made around 650 of them and only declassified their existence in the 1990's. This one is one of only about 650 made.

    Cheers
  • Nameless1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If this was the cool wall from Top Gear this would be in the DB9 fridge. I envy the lucky bidder
  • mikolby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"This is a piece of history, it belongs in a museum". - Indiana Jones
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