WWII speciality machines to be auctioned
German to feature 1938 Japanese military compass and more
A 1938 Japanese military compass, a collection of original "Sputnik" drawings and an electric pen designed by Thomas Edison in 1876 are just three of the highlights in Auction Team Breker's 620-lot auction extravaganza of early technology, scheduled for November 21 in Cologne, Germany.
The WW2 computer (lot 27), manufactured by Nikon Industrial Optical Co. Ltd. for use in anti-aircraft warfare, is one of several lots with an important military history. Also included are three ciphering machines. The earliest (lot 30) is of French manufacture, and was used to "translate" numbers into pronounceable syllables to send via telegraph. The rarest (lot 33) is an extraordinary 10-rotor Enigma machine of c. 1938, designated the "Secret Writer T 52c" by its manufacturer Siemens & Halske AG. The 10-rotor class (most surviving examples are 3 or 4-rotor only) was reserved for elite members of the German armed forces, while the Nema Type T-D ciphering machine (lot 31) was one of its more simple successors.
Lot 27: Japanese WWII Computer for Anti-Aircraft Warfare, 1938
An absolute rarity!
Lot 30: Cipher Machine "The Ideal Codigraph", c. 1910
The machine was used to "translate" numbers in pronounceable
syllables to send via telegraph. -- Extremely rare!
Lot 31: Cipher Machine "Nema T-D". Rare, as never officially marketed.
Lot 33: Important WWII 10-Rotor "Enigma" Ciphering Machine, c. 1938
Only 6 ten-rotor machines are known worldwide. A historical phenomenon
in the history of the WWII, the development of cryptography and the
birth of the electromechanical computer. In superb condition.
Also of interest to collectors of militaria is a fascinating group of aeronautica (lots 250-255), including documentation, models and photographs of such landmarks as the "Ford Trimotor", previously unpublished ("Secret") French wartime documents on the German V1 and V2 rockets, and an original archive of scientific research into the pioneering space flights of 1956-58.
Further details available online at www.Breker.com. Information is also available in the U.S. at 'The Best Things': Tel. (703) 796-5544; or BREKER@TheBestThings.com.
