Hello Aaron
On 03-Apr-00, you wrote:
> I wouldn't be surprised if someone stole this model just to get enough
> public awareness and hype behind it to make a killing selling their own
> legitimate unit...can you imagine what a basic Enigma *could* bring on
> eBay now, since people all over the world know how rare and priceless they
> are now? (And how much they're worth: $100K!)
>
> We'll probably find out soon enough...
>
> Cheers,
>
> Aaron
>
>
>
> On Mon, 3 Apr 2000, Hans Franke wrote:
>
>>> An Enigma machine used by the Nazis to send coded messages during World
War
>>> Two, has been stolen from the code-cracking Station X at Bletchley Park,
>>> Buckinghamshire. The machine, worth about ?100,000, is one of only
three in
>>> the world. It was brought to the UK after the war.
>>
>>> I bet it was somebody on this list who grabbed it! Fess up! ;-)
>>
>> Pssst.
>>
>>> I see it as another sign of how serious our hobby is becoming. Its
valued
>>> at 100,000 pounds! I wonder what it will fetch on ebay? ;-)
>>
>> Well, I don't know what configuration the Enigma in question had,
>> but for a basic 3 or even 4 wheel type with no extensions etc.
>> a real price is between 10 and 20 thausand Marks (~5-10 kUSD,
>> 3 to 6 kGBP). Last I've seen on a German auction was a setup
>> a 3 wheel machine, one add on box (realy rare) and a set of
>> 3 additional wheels (exchange for code change). The lot was
>> sold at 21 kDM (~10kUSD, ~6kGBP), and thats way below the
>> named 100kGBP (~300kDM, ~150kUSD). Well, again a hyped up
>> price. Of course, with the usual ignorants, eBay may rocket
>> the price somewhat near the mentioned sum.
>>
>> And for the rarity, again it depends on the Enigma type,
>> and especialy on the type of the add on boxes and even more
>> what additional wheeles are available - as with computer
>> collections, the additional stuff is more worth than the
>> basic unit. For example, the Lorenz SZ42 is maybe priceless,
>> since only two remaining units are known. But dozends of
>> basic enigmas are still alife, and several are displayed
>> in museums around the world.
>>
>> So, just forget about the media hype.
>>
>> Servus
>> Hans
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> VCF Europa am 29./30. April 2000 in Muenchen
>> http://www.vintage.org/vcfe
>> http://www.homecomputer.de/vcfe
>>
>
>
Maybe all they wanted is secure internet encryption and didn't like PGP . .
.
I can just imagine -- an enigma tied into a net server somehwere.
Gary Hildebrand
Received on Mon Apr 03 2000 - 17:40:18 BST