More than 400 artefacts used by American astronauts, Cuban revolutionaries and Soviet spies will come under the hammer at Julien’s Auctions in Hollywood next year. The Cold War Relics Auction on February 13, 2021 will feature the entire collection from the KGB Espionage Museum in New York City. Lots on offer include clandestine operative cameras, counter-intelligence detectors, morse code machines, airplane radars, voice recorders and official government documents. Highlights include a gun designed to look like a tube of lipstick ($800-$1,200), a secret hotel-room listening device or “bug” from 1964 ($300-$500); a Soviet version of the Enigma code cipher machine known as the Fialka ($8,000-$12,000) and a replica of the deadly syringe umbrella believed to have been used to carry out the assassination of Bulgarian author Georgie Markov on a London street in 1978 ($2,000-$3,000).
This collection was procured by historian, collector and museum curator, Julius Urbaitis, who worked as the consultant for the 2019 Emmy and Golden Globe award winning HBO series, Chernobyl.
