A Wetterkurzschlüssel or ‘Weather Short Signal Book’ used on German U-Boats in the 1940s – the principal component of an Enigma codebook lot sold by Bonhams in New York for $180,000 (£134,330).
For many years now, German Enigma code machines have been making big, sums at auction, but in the Bonhams New York June 12 sale a slim codebook relating to their use also prompted a much, much higher than expected and six-figure bid.
Bid to $180,000 (£134,330), it was a Wetterkurzschlüssel or ‘Weather short Signal Book’ of a type used on U-Boats.