Auction house Bonhams is scheduled to put a German enigma enciphering machine under the hammer for the first time on 14 November in London.
The machine, which is estimated to sell for between £40,000 and £60,000, was built in 1941 and was used by German forces during World War II.
The enigma machine was patented at the end of World War I. While the device was originally intended for commercial purposes, by 1939 the majority of them had been appropriated for German military use.
British intelligence officers at Bletchley Park were responsible for decoding the information communicated by enigma to gain a crucial advantage over the Germans.
Thanks to their efforts, messages scrambled by the machines could eventually be decoded in under 24 hours.
Laurence Fisher, specialist head of mechanical music, technical apparatus & scientific instruments said: 'Enigma machines come up very rarely at auction. This particular example is in working order, completely untouched and un-restored.
‘Many machines were picked up by the allies as souvenirs during the final stages of World War II and as such, in later years, tended to be “mixed and matched”, where rotors, outer cases and head blocks were replaced with another machines’ parts.
‘This one has all elements bearing the same serial number, making this totally complete and original throughout.’
Other notable pieces in Bonhams’ upcoming Knightsbridge auction include a complete set of enigma rotors (estimated £6,000-8,000) and a fine veri-gold split seed-pearl, diamond and ruby embellished bird box (estimated £60,000-80,000).
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