STG-61 HANDHELD CRYPTOGRAPHIC ROTOR MACHINE by HELL
11-003. German, late 1950s, unsigned, but stamped inside "Type STG-61." After WWII, Germany was barred from developing complex cipher systems, so licensed designs from other countries were manufactured by German companies. Hell (of Kiel) manufactured a series of such machines, including versions of Crypto AG's C-52 and CD-57 (particularly well-liked by the French and also used by the Vatican). The STG-61 is Hell's licensed copy of the CD-57. It uses 6 rotors and was designed to be cross compatible with C-52s. It's very small size, 5 1/8" x 3 1/8 x 1 3/4", was well designed for one hand use and also for carrying in a large pocket of a military greatcoat. This STG-61 is in very fine working condition. Very few small mechanical cryptographic rotor machines such as CD-57s or STG-61s have ever been available for purchase by collectors.
