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A M-125 FIALKA CIPHER MACHINE, Russian, 1950's, image 1
A M-125 FIALKA CIPHER MACHINE, Russian, 1950's, image 2
Lot 31

A M-125 FIALKA CIPHER MACHINE,
Russian, 1950's,

Amended
Instruments of Science and Technology
2 December 2020, 14:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £7,012.50 inc. premium

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A M-125 FIALKA CIPHER MACHINE, Russian, 1950's,

Serial no. 98-70280 detailed on top of wheel-locking lever, the machine complete with ten rotors, each with 30 Cyrillic characters, and a three row keyboard in Latin and Cyrillic with five-level paper tape reader below and paper tape punch and tape printing mechanism on top with punch card input on the left hand side, in grey metal casing with cover, with power supply, the case with stencil number 98-73320 to case, 11in (28cm) wide

Footnotes

A highly complex ciphering machine used by the Soviets during the Cold War era, and also widely used by many of the Warsaw Pact countries of Europe and their allies including Cuba. For many decades this machine was virtually unobtainable from behind the iron curtain, but in the last few decades examples have been released to the world. The Fialka, often called the Russian Enigma, was developed in the late 40s and early 50s by the Soviets, who needed a secure ciphering machine for message transmissions. The first one was used in 1956 and was the mainstay of secure communications until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The original M-125 was succeeded by the new revised version the M-25 3 in the 60s, and various communist countries rewired and changed the settings for their own languages. Some have compared the structure of Fialka to NEMA, but it is far more complex with the 10 electronic rotors compared to 4, but in its structure it derives much from the German Enigma.

Saleroom notices

Please note: The power packs that accompany LOTS 31 and 32 are illustrated round the wrong way in the e-catalogue. However they are illustrated here online the correct way. Please also note that this is a Model M-125-3 and probably dates from the 1960's, it also has a Czech keyboard.

Additional information

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Original Superman 'Flying Costume' from the 1978 film 'Superman: The Movie', worn by American actor Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) in the flying scenes of the motion picture. Consisting of red wool cape with sewn-on logo, blue nylon top with sewn-on logo, blue nylon pants, yellow plastic belt and red leather boots. Also included is documentation regarding ownership history, unopened copy of the film (DVD), CD-ROM with catalogue material from Christie's, New York, July 2001, where the costume was last sold, and a color photograph of Christopher Reeve in one of the film's flying scenes. Zip waistband with the costume workshop's handwritten name, 'Nathans-Bermans CR [Christopher Reeve] Fly' ('Bermans & Nathans Ltd', London). The inside of the boots are labelled in pen, 'CR R 4' and 'CR L 4' for Christopher Reeve respectively. Both boot shafts also have remnants of sewn-on fabric labels on the inside. (14 items in total).

DKK800,000 - DKK1,000,000