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A NEMA TD 459 Cipher Machine, Swiss, third quarter of the 20th century, image 1
A NEMA TD 459 Cipher Machine, Swiss, third quarter of the 20th century, image 2
A NEMA TD 459 Cipher Machine, Swiss, third quarter of the 20th century, image 3
Various Properties
Lot 34Ω

A NEMA TD 459 Cipher Machine,
Swiss, third quarter of the 20th century,

15 September 2021, 14:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £7,650 inc. premium

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A NEMA TD 459 Cipher Machine, Swiss, third quarter of the 20th century,

the 10-wheel cipher machine used by the Swiss Army and Diplomatic Corp, complete with standard keyboard, corresponding light-up displays, remote display, wiring, and operational instructions manual, in painted metal case,
12 1/2in (32cm) wide

Footnotes

First deployed in 1947, the NEMA cipher machine shared numerous features with the commercial Enigma, including the lack of a plugboard. In contrast, the NEMA utilised 5 rotors for enciphering the alphabet, and an additional 5 paired rotors which give irregular stepping of the rotors. This configuration resolved a major vulnerability of the odometer-style stepping of the Enigma machine.

The present Lot includes a bilingual operations manual stamped ENTKLASSIFIZIERT DATUM: 9 Juli 1992, which denotes the official declassification date for the NEMA.

Additional information

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