We have a World War II German Enigma coding machine.
An Enigma.
These are amazing.
I've seen pictures of them.
I've read about them.
I've never actually seen one in person.
I mean, this thing was responsible for the rise
and the fall of the entire German war machine.
Where in the world did you get this?
My father and I have an Enigma museum, and we treasure hunt.
This thing won't make me understand women, will it?
That's an enigma.
[laughs]
During World War II, if a German commander
wanted to send a secret message to his troops out in the field,
this is what he used.
And the Germans thought this machine
was completely unbreakable.
I'm surprised any of them survived.
Not many did.
There are three that I know of in the United States on display
right now.
One is at a science museum in Chicago.
One is at the NSA's crypto museum in Washington.
And one is at the International Spy Museum.
At the end of the war, they would
destroy these in the field, rather than let them fall
into the hands of the enemy.
So more often than not, they are in horrendous condition.
Now, this one right here, I mean,
you actually found it intact?
No, this machine has parts that have been replaced.
OK, so these are extra rotors.
That's a reproduction box with two rotors.
OK.
This thing is so incredibly cool.
Cracking the Enigma code was one of the top projects
of World War II.
It took years to do it.
But in the end, it did save millions of lives.
I really want this thing, but I've never had one in my shop.
I need someone to look at it.
I'm out of my league here.
And how much do you want for it?
$149,300.
That's an odd number.
I think it's a fair price.
My big problem is, I've seen them sell for $200,000.
I've seen them sell for $30,000, and you look at them,
they all look the same.
So I'm going to call in a friend who knows a little bit more
than I do about these things and see if he can figure it out.
- All right. - Hey.
What's up, man?
Good to see you.
What do you got?
A mystery wrapped in a riddle.
Yeah, it's an Enigma machine.
It's pretty cool.
Coolest thing about these things
is that they named it the Enigma.
Right, right.
That is cool.
If I had a dog, that's what I'd name him.
I do have a dog.
He's an idiot.
[laughs]
My name is Wil Willis.
I'm a former Army Ranger and Air Force para rescue man,
and I specialize in military items.
The hardest part of being in the military for me
was getting a haircut every week.
Nothing like having a baby slick head for four years
makes you think that the hair is kind of nice.
It's one of the coolest things that's ever been in the shop.
It really is.
Yeah, it is.
It is a really cool thing, and it's really significant
when you talk about being able to encrypt
your messages to your generals and your soldiers.
You know, having a machine like this that allows
you to send those messages in secret
is really a critical thing.
And it was critical to us, the Allied Forces,
to be able to decipher these messages.
And when we decrypted the machines,
they shortened the war by two years.
Yeah.
This is like uber nerd cool.
It really is.
Germany's foreign policy was to conquer
the world during World War II.
So making them believe that their messages were encrypted
in secret was critical towards winning that war
in a shorter period of time.
So which parts were missing when you found it?
The warning plate and the rotors.
OK.
Do we have matching serial numbers throughout?
We do not.
OK, so how many rotors match the machine itself?
None.
OK.
A serial number wasn't what drove the process.
The rotor number was.
But the serial number drives price.
OK.
All right.
I know the price of these things are all over the place.
Right.
The most expensive one went for over $200,000.
We've got three matched rotors with serial numbers.
They don't match the machine itself.
The box doesn't have a serial number on it.
We've got a recreated box.
And considering what things have been selling for that
are unrestored with matching serial numbers,
I would price this at $70,000 all together.
Well, I think my price is fair.
Yeah, because he was asking $149,300.
Well, the most expensive one that ever sold
was for $200,000, and that one was in a movie.
I think the more fair price is $70,000 for everything.
Mm.
Well, thanks, man.
You got it.
I think that sellers get this perception that, like, I
put in all this work.
It's worth way more than what it really is.
I'm going to go with Wil on this one.
I'd give you 50 grand for it.
[music playing]
I can't do that.
I mean, what is your lowest number?
115,000.
We're way too far off.
We just are.
Thanks for coming in.
Thank you.
All right.
This really sucks because the likelihood of another one
coming in my shop is not good.
But we were over 60 grand apart, and that's way too much
ground to even try and cover.
But you know what?
I really did want that thing.