eBay bidders have offered more than $30,000 for a World War II-era German Enigma cipher machine, a sum that’s “on the high side,” according to a dealer who has sold other models.

The online auction, which is scheduled to close Monday, is for a three-rotor Enigma machine manufactured in 1941, said the eBay listing. The unit, however, is missing a serial number, and the rotors — which typically are stamped with the same serial number as the Enigma itself — appear blank.

“Serial numbers has [sic] been removed,” the listing states.

The Enigma, which is being sold by a Munich-based company called Sales Service, has already been bid higher than most recent at-auction or private sales prices, according to a listing of recent Enigma sales.

Posted: 04|1|06 at 8:47 am. Filed under: UK News.