A RARE KRYHA-LILIPUT CIPHER MACHINE, German, circa 1930,

A RARE KRYHA-LILIPUT CIPHER MACHINE, German, circa 1930, the velvet lined leather case fitted with watch-form nickel-plated cipher case together with four interchangeable number and letter rings, complete with spare letter/number tabs and operating pen, the cipher 2½in (7cm) diameter Footnotes: In 1924, the German engineer, Alexander von Kryha, invented a coding machine and applied for patents in both Germany and the USA. The machine had a disc type mechanism with two variable alphabets which were irregularly displaced by a gear type wheel with alternately arranged groups of teeth and spaces. There were eventually three models - the Standard, Electric and Liliput. Their basic difference was their speed of use with the Liliput being the slowest by delivering approximately 90 letters per minute. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com