StartseiteCipherbrain

The “10,000 pounds” cryptograms

Von / 6. Juli 2019 / 6 Kommentare
Mehr

In the 19th century, a series of over 40 encrypted ads was published in a British newspaper. Can a reader decipher them?

The book The Agony Column Codes & Ciphers by Jean Palmer (i.e., Tony Gaffney, a reader of this blog and co-author of my latest HistoCrypt paper) is a treasure trove for everybody interested in old cryptograms.

Agony-Column

Tony’s book presents over a thousand encrypted newspaper advertisements from Victorian England. Tony, who is an excellent codebreaker, has broken most of these cryptograms, but some are still unsolved. On Klausis Krypto Kolumne I have published many an article about these.

Many of the encrypted ads covered in Tony’s book contain love messages. Others were placed by business people in order to send news to partners or customers. Ignatius Pollaky, a private investigator of the Victorian era, communicated via encrypted newspaper ads, too. Some of the ads in the book make long series.

 

The “10,000 pounds” series

From 1879 to 1881 a series of at least 40 encrypted advertisements was publishedin the Evening Standard. To my knowledge, these cryptograms have never been solved. Here is the first one:

APCWMBJGBJHKRCRCWRA. WGETFHESBJHB. FJRPTMOHF. HLSUTF. – See advertisements headed “poison” and “O to L” in “The Standard” of 12th June.
Wed 16th Jul 1879

This advertisement references two (unencrypted) ads published in the same newspaper a few months before:

  • POISON. – Incredible as it may seem; I have ground of hope that half a glass of cold water, taken immediately after every meal, will be found to be the divinely appointed antidote for every kind of poison. This advertisement is respectfully commended to the attention of magistrates. Thu 12th Jun 1879
  • O. to L. – Buy with discretion, carry, drink water, and snap fingers. No decimvir above ground, as a general rule. If you will ascend into the dens of iniquity, you will have to make a journey through the sewers, and pop up inanimate through the basement of your own domicile. Thu 12th Jun 1879

Let’s now proceed to the second ad of the series:

AWMBJGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBFJR. 10,000? See advertisements under same heading in “The Standard” of 25th April. Thu 31st Jul 1879

This text references an advertisement with the same heading published in the Evening Standard on April 25 of the same year. Tony’s book doesn’t contain such an ad, but on April 25 an ad of the “Fact or Fiction” series (another series of unsolved ads) was published.

Here’s the third ad:

JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBFJRRTTPEFMAPC. 10,000. See advertisements “poison” and “O to L” in “The Standard” of 12th June. Wed 13th Aug 1879

I have already mentioned the “poison” and “O to L” advertisements above.

From now on, every ad of the series starts with a sum of money, beginning with 10,000£:

TEN THOUSAND POUNDS. – JGBJHKRCRCWRAWG
ETFHESBJHBFJRRTTPEFMAPC. I have to apologise for the inaccuracy of previous advertisements and the necessary incompleteness of this. Mon 22nd Sep 1879

10,000£ – JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBFJRRT
TPEFMAPC. I have to apologise for the inaccuracy of previous advertisements published between June 11and August 28, and the necessary incompleteness of this.Tue 23rd Sep 1879

10,000£ – JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBFJRRT
TPEFMAPC. See advertisement commencing with the letter ‘A’ in “The Standard” of 31st July, mutatis mutandis. My life has been attempted twice. LCWMBMEMBMEM
WMEMSMPMBMEMEML? Wed 22nd Oct 1879

10,000£ – JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBFJRRT
TPEFMAPC. See advertisement commencing with the letter ‘A’ in “The Standard” of 31st July, mutatis mutandis. My life has been attempted twice. ECAATCBC?
Mon 3rd Nov 1879

10,000£ – JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBFJRRT
TPEFMAPC. Buz, Buz! I’ve abundance of cash in my pocket: Three dormice, a ringlet, a rat, and a rocket, With a farthing rush-candle burnt down to the socket, A weighty conundrum! – Quick, quick to unlock it.Thur 27th Nov 1879

10,000£. – JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBJDCK
TTPEFMAPC. Cellar SC61. See advertisement commencing with the letter A in “The Standard” of 31st July, mutatis mutandis. GKRRTSJHMARTRFTPEFMGSP
WC? 5000? Porter 77. Fri 9th Jan 1880

10,000£. – JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBHLRT
TPEFMAPC. Cellar SC61. See advertisement commencing with the letter A in “The Standard” of 31st July, mutatis mutandis, with many other advertisements, similar to this, published in the interim. My life has been attempted twice within walls. JGHKDCRRCWRGETASTGJPAHEJMRAH PRHSTRFTPEFMGSPWC? 5000? Porter 77.
Thu 22nd Jan 1880

Now, the sum decreases to 5000 pounds:

5000£. – CDRGETASTGJPAHEJMRAHPRHSTRFTPEF
MGSPWC? Porter 77. See advertisement commencing with the letter A in “The Standard” of 31st July, mutatis mutandis, with many other advertisements, similar to this, published in the interim. Mon 26th Jan 1880

5000£. – JGHKCDRRCWRGETASTGJPAHEJMRAHPR
HSTRFTPEFMGSPWC? Porter 77. See advertisement commencing with the letter A in “The Standard” of 31st July, mutatis mutandis, with many other advertisements, similar to this, published in the interim. My life has been attempted twice within walls. Thu 5th Feb 1880

Here we are at 10,000 pounds again:

10,000£. – GJKCRWTHBBRTTPEFMAPC. SC61. TAWMBGJCWBGSC? BSPC 42? GRTTPFMSHJG? CT61? 20,000? CCSPMWMBGJK &c.? CT60? SHWMBGJK &c.? SHWMBGJK &c.? MSPC? 73? JMRTWIKBWMBGJK &c.? MSPC? GKRRTSJHMARTRTTPEFMOHBHFWGSPW? 10,000? I am bound to exculpate myself. My income has been cut down. My life has been attempted twice within walls. MFWMBGJCWBGSC. BSPC 38. MBWMBGJK &c. BSPC 60. See previous advertisements since 31st July.
Mon 16th Feb 1880

10,000£. – GJKCRWTHBBRTTPEFMAPC. SC61. TAWMBGJCWBGSC? BSPC 42? RPAATCM? GRTTPFMSHJG? 20,000? CT61, SHWMBGJK &c.? JGHKCDRRCWRGETASTJGPAHEJMRAHPRHSTRFTPEFMGSPW C. Porter 77. I am bound to exculpate myself. My income has been cut down. My life has been attempted twice within walls. MFWMBGJCWBGSC. BSPC 38. MBWMBGJK &c. BSPC 60. See previous advertisements since 31st July. Wed 18th Feb 1880

10,000£.- JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBHMCR
TTPEFMAPC. Cellar SC61. See previous advertisements since 31st July. JGHKCDRRCWRGETASTJGPAHEJMR
AHPRHSTRFTPEFMGSPW ? Porter 77. I am bound to exculpate myself. My income has been cut down. My life has been attempted twice within walls. Thu 19th Feb 1880

10,000£.- JGBJHKRCRCWRAWGETFHESBJHBHMCR
TTPEFMAPC. Cellar SC61. See previous advertisements since 31st July. EDWMBGJCTTGDHPCS? HL69? My income has been cut down. My life has been attempted twice within walls. MFFECWMBGJCGDWSC. BSPC. 38.
Fri 20th Feb 1880

10,000£. – GJKCRWTHBBCRTTPEFMAPC. Cellar SC61. TMCRTSS? JGWMBGBWPCYL? CT61? KDWMBGB, &c.? SS69? five shipments.
JGHKCDRRCWRGETASTJGPAHEJMRAHPRHSTRFTPEFMGSPW ? Porter 77. I have a right to demand an inquiry. I am bound to exculpate myself. My income has been cut down. My life has been attempted twice within walls. See previous advertisements since 31st July. I have to apologise for the inaccuracy of last Friday’s.
Mon 23rd Feb 1880

Now, for the second time, the sum is lowered to 5000 pounds:

5000£. – JGCDRRCWRGETASTGJPAHEJMRAHPRHST
RFTPEFMGSPWC? Porter 77. See previous advertisements since 31st July. My income has been cut down. My life has been attempted. Wed 3rd Mar 1880

5000£. – JGCDRRCWRGETASTGJPAHEJMRAHPRHST
RFTPEFMGSPWC? Porter 77. See previous advertisements since 31st July. I have been robbed by a set of rogues and knaves. My life has been attempted twice.
Wed 3rd Mar 1880

FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS. – JGCDRRCWRGETAST
GJPAHEJMRAHPRHSTRFTPEFMGSPWC? Porter 77. See previous advertisements since 31st July. I have been robbed by a gang of thieves and assassins, and my life has been attempted twice. Thu 1st Apr 1880

5000£. – JGHKCDRRCWRGETASTJGPAHEJMRAHPR
HSTRFTPEFMGSPW ? Porter 77. I have been robbed by a gang of atrocious villains, and my life has been attempted twice. I have to apologise for the obvious inaccuracy of paragraphs, commencing with the letters JM, in several advertisements, published between Nov.21 and Feb. 16.
Sat 24th Apr 1880

5000£. – JGHKCDRRCWRGETASTJGPAHEJMRAHPR
HSTRFTPEFMGSPW ? Porter 77. I have been robbed by a set of incorrigible scoundrels, and my life has been attempted twice. I have to apologise for the obvious inaccuracy of paragraphs, commencing with the letters JM, in several advertisements, published between Nov.21 and Feb. 16. Thu 29th Apr 1880

5000£. – HKCDRRCWRGETASTGJRAHPRRFTPEFMG
SPWC? Porter 77. See previous advertisements since 31st July. I have been entrapped by a set of utter reprobates, my life having been attempted twice. Fri 30th Apr 1880

5000£. – JGCDRRCWRGETASTGJPAHEJMRAHPRHST
RFTPEFMGSPWC? Porter 77. See previous advertisements since 31st July. I have been decoyed into a den of lions and tigers, my life having been attempted twice. Sat 1st May 1880

5000£. – HKCDRRCWRGETRHCASTGJPAHEJMHPRH
STRFTPEFMGSPWC? See previous advertisements since 31st July. I was assailed by a set of lawless ruffians. May 8, 1878. My life having been attempted twice.
Tue 4th May 1880

5000£. – OHBHHKCDRRCWRGETRHCASTGJPAHEJM
HPRHSTRFTPEFMGSPWC? See previous advertisements since 31st July. I was assailed by a set of lawless ruffians. May 8, 1878. My life having been attempted twice.
Wed 5th May 1880

5000£. – JGOHBHCDRRCWRGETRHCASTGJPAHEJM
HPRHSTRFTPEFMGSPWC? See previous advertisements since 31st July. I was defrauded by a batch of notorious peculators. May 8, 1878. My life having been attempted twice. MFWMBJGWBCS. BSPC 38. Sat 8th May 1880

Meanwhile, we are in May 1880 and the sum rises to 20,000 pounds:

20,000£. – GDCLWWPPRRHHBBRTTPEFMAPC? C CB 61? I have to apologise for the inaccuracies of previous advertisements. GHKTHMARTRTPEFMGSPWC? I was confined with a pack of wolves and jackals.
Wed 19th May 1880

20,000£. – GDCLWWPPRRHHBBRTTPEFMAPC? C CB September 18, 1859? I have to apologise for the inaccuracies of previous advertisements. CDRRCWRASTGJRFTPEFMGSPWC? Porter 77. I was confined with a pack of wolves and jackals. My life has been attempted twice. Fri 21st May 1880

The next step is 50,000 pounds:

50,000£. – GCLRRRHHHWWPPBBRFTPEFMAPC? CCB59? I have to apologise for the inaccuracies of previous advertisements. HMTRFTPEFMGSPWC? I was amazed by a group of hideous malefactors.
Mon 24th May 1880

50,000£. – GHHHRRRWWPPBBRFTPEFMAPC? CCB59? EMPRTSS? I have to apologise for the inaccuracies of previous advertisements. KMARTRFTPEFMGSPWC? I was bated by a pack of tongueless bloodhounds. My life has been attempted twice within the walls. Tue 25th May 1880

50,000£. – WGWPPBBHHHRRRRFTPEFMAPC? SC61? EMPRSS? See many previous advertisements since 31st July. KARRFTPEFMGSPWC? I was bewildered by a vision of grinning vampires. Thu 27th May 1880

50,000£. – GHRHRSPRWWHBBRFTPEFMAPC? CCB59? See many previous advertisements since 31st July. GHRHRSJARTRFTPEFMGSPWC? I was horrified by a band of howling executioners, May 8, 1878.
Tue 8th Jun 1880

50,000£. – GSPWWRRBBHHRFTPEFMAPC? CCB59? See many previous advertisements since 31st July. GHKTHMARTRFTPEFMGSPW? I was released by a herd of venal assassins. May 8, 1878. Tue 22nd Jun 1880

With Christmas 1880 we are back at 10,000 pounds:

10,000£. – JGASERCHKRCWRRCRCRCESBJHBRTTPE
FMAPC? WPC61? See many similar previous advertisements. WEGWPWRPJGRCRFTPEFMMF? BSPC38? LFEECEHLEHLTEEEFJRCSRWHUDCUWW
FWMEBWFBHCSJBHEWGDEBASERCIBLBCABITR
WHATFMMM? PRK65. Bravo! King Richard! Best wishes from the grave. Mon 27th Dec 1880

Suddenly, the sum reaches 500,000 pounds:

500,000£.- ASELIRFHTPFMCK? See many similar previous advertisements. ASELIRFHTPFMFDM? ASELTITRWHATFMMM? I was inveigled by a set of lawless ruffians.
“This in the cellar’s melancholy gloom,
“That in the comfortable dining-room;
“While the trim plasterer trots up and down
“The kitchen stairs till he is well nigh blown.”
Bravo! Bravo! Best wishes from the grave.
ASELIRFHTPFMCK Sat 1st Jan 1881

The following two ads include the words “NO HOPE”, “NO FUTURE” and “TRAITOR”, with the sum of money having dropped to one pound:

00001£. – N.H.L.SM.RTH.T.RR.R.NM.SK.D. NO HOPE, but at the same time NO FEAR. Shall give key and divulge in agony columns, To-morrow (Saturday) or Monday, unless . . . . NO CREED – NO FUTURE. Fri 1st Apr 1881

To – – 00001£. – – *1*1*1**, O *, * * E, *E * * O *,U * * A * * E *, … …… divulge or send key at the peril of your life ……. – TRAITOR. Wed 6th Apr 1881

The last ad starts with ten millions:

10,000,000£. – REFRAISJAMOLLACQINTMHISWAMA
NLY? See similar advertisements published a month since, with many other similar previous advertisements.
Sat 9th Apr 1881

 

Analysis

Here’s a fequency analysis of all the encrypted passages (made with CrypTool 2):

As can be seen, the letters V, X and Z don’t appear in these cryptograms. The frequency distribution doesn’t look like a MASC or a transposition.

Can a reader make sense of these advertisements?


Further reading: Please help to decrypt these 25 newspaper advertisements

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13501820
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/763282653806483/

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Stichworte:
Mehr

Kommentare (6)

  1. #1 joe
    Berlin
    6. Juli 2019

    APCWMBJGBJHKRCRCWRA. WGETFHESBJHB. FJRPTMOHF. HLSUTF

    Auffällig JG JH JR, CR bzw. RC, FH

  2. #2 Norbert
    7. Juli 2019

    At least, I can make sense of the third-to-last and the penultimate ads.
    Taken together, they read “nihilism or the terror unmasked” (treating 1 as I).


    N.H.L.SM.RTH.T.RR.R.NM.SK.D (1881/04/01)
    *1*1*1**O***E*E**O*U**A**E* (1881/04/06)
    NIHILISMORTHETERRORUNMASKED

  3. #3 Thomas
    7. Juli 2019

    Great job, Norbert! I wonder what the background was, since ‘Nihilism or the terror unmasked’ was a book published in 1881, i.e. the year of the encrypted ads.

  4. #4 Christof Rieber
    Wien
    11. Juli 2019

    Some of the codes are very similar to each other, e.g.:

    JGHKCDRRCWRGETASTJGPAHEJMRAHPR
    JGCDRRCWRGETASTGJPAHEJMRAHPRHST

    Also, I think the author gives some key with the sentence who had actually attacked him:

    ROGUES AND KNAVES
    THIEVES AND ASSASSINS
    ATROCIOUS VILLAINS
    INCORRIGIBLE SCOUNDRELS
    UTTER REPROBATES
    LIONS AND TIGERS
    LAWLESS RUFFIANS
    NOTORIOUS PECULATORS
    WOLVES AND JACKALS
    HIDEOUS MALEFACTORS
    TONGUELESS BLOODHOUNDS
    GRINNING VAMPIRES
    HOWLING EXECUTIONERS
    VENAL ASSASSINS

    He even mentions to give the key for encryption:

    “Shall give key and divulge in agony columns”

    QT

  5. #5 Christof Rieber
    Wien
    11. Juli 2019

    Also to be mentioned the following reference to some additional ad:

    “See advertisement commencing with the letter ‘A’ in “The Standard” of 31st July, mutatis mutandis.”

  6. #6 M
    Bolivien
    13. Juli 2019

    The author(s) is(are) playing Ultima 0?

    https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_(Spieleserie)