Newspaper Boy Uncovers Spy Ring

On a normal Monday evening in 1953, a delivery boy for the "Brooklyn Eagle" knocked on the door of one of his customers in an apartment building in Brooklyn, New York. He was collecting money for his newspapers. A lady answered the door, disappeared for a moment, and then returned with her purse.

"Sorry, Jimmy," she said. "I don't have any change. Can you break this dollar bill for me?"

The newspaper boy counted the coins in his pocket but did not have enough for change. "I'll ask the people across the hall" he said. Two ladies across the hall were able to combine coins from their pocketbooks for change.

After he collected for the newspaper, Jimmy left the apartment house jingling several coins in his left hand. One of the coins seemed to have a strange sound. The newspaper boy rested this coin, a nickel, on the middle of his finger. It felt lighter than an ordinary nickel.

He dropped the nickel on the floor and it fell apart! Inside was a tiny photograph -- a photo of what looked like a bunch of numbers.

Jimmy's nickel became a key piece of evidence in uncovering a spy ring from the Soviet Union in the 1950s!

The message found in the nickel was ten columns of typed numbers, five digits in each number and 21 numbers in most columns. The decoded message is below:

"1. WE [Soviet connections] CONGRATULATE YOU [the spy] ON A SAFE ARRIVAL. WE CONFIRM THE RECEIPT OF YOUR LETTER TO THE ADDRESS `V REPEAT V' AND THE READING OF LETTER NUMBER 1."

"2. FOR ORGANIZATION OF COVER, WE [Soviet Union] GAVE INSTRUCTIONS TO TRANSMIT TO YOU THREE THOUSAND IN LOCAL (CURRENCY). CONSULT WITH US PRIOR TO INVESTING IT IN ANY KIND OF BUSINESS, ADVISING THE CHARACTER OF THIS BUSINESS."

"3. ACCORDING TO YOUR REQUEST, WE WILL TRANSMIT THE FORMULA FOR THE PREPARATION OF SOFT FILM AND NEWS SEPARATELY, TOGETHER WITH (YOUR) MOTHER'S LETTER."

"4. IT IS TOO EARLY TO SEND YOU THE GAMMAS. ENCIPHER SHORT LETTERS, BUT THE LONGER ONES MAKE WITH INSERTIONS. ALL THE DATA ABOUT YOURSELF, PLACE OF WORK, ADDRESS, ETC., MUST NOT BE TRANSMITTED IN ONE CIPHER MESSAGE. TRANSMIT INSERTIONS SEPARATELY."

"5. THE PACKAGE WAS DELIVERED TO YOUR WIFE PERSONALLY. EVERYTHING IS ALL RIGHT WITH THE FAMILY. WE WISH YOU SUCCESS. GREETINGS FROM THE COMRADES. NUMBER 1, 3RD OF DECEMBER."