The Enigma Commercial Machine
1923 · Scherbius Rotor Cipher · Work 446 of 1,871
The printing Enigma of 1923, a heavy cipher machine the size of a large office typewriter in a polished wooden case, a full typewriter keyboard at the front, a type wheel and paper carriage at the top printing the enciphered text onto a sheet of paper, a row of coding rotors set behind the keyboard under a hinged cover, black japanned metal and polished wood, standing on a heavy office desk under a single work lamp from above at an angle, the surrounding room falling away into darkness.
- What it was used for
- A cipher machine of Chiffriermaschinen AG, Berlin. The Handelsmaschine was a case of about 65 by 45 by 38 centimetres weighing some 50 kilograms, printing its output through a type wheel. According to Wik it was shown at exhibitions in Leipzig and Bern in 1923 and at the exhibition of the Universal Postal Union congress in Stockholm in 1924. Alongside it the firm demonstrated the small glowlamp machine Wik calls Enigma A: 23 by 27 by 13 centimetres, about 5 kilograms, 26 keys and 26 lamps.
- What was new
- That Scherbius invented the rotor is not supported by the sources checked here. The NSA Center for Cryptologic History says Edward Hebern is generally credited with inventing the first American electromechanical rotor cipher machine, and that by the end of 1915 he had built a working model and filed a patent; it gives no date for Scherbius, so no priority can be derived. The barb is in the customer list. The prospective buyer with whom the machines were left in Stockholm for trials was the Swedish General Staff; in January 1925 it ordered two Enigma B at 650 Reichsmark each, delivered on 6 April 1925 as A133 and A134.