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Cold-War Contraptions: Soviet Spy Gadgets For Sale

The entire collection from New York's short-lived KGB Espionage Museum, which opened in January 2019 but closed last year due to the pandemic, will be at the centerpiece of an auction in California on February 13.

Miniature cameras, microphones hidden in cigarette packs, pens, and rings, and even a poison-filled tooth are among the items up for sale.
A pack of cigarettes from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) contains a hidden camera. This "is the world's first and most comprehensive auction event offering some of the rarest and most important artifacts from the U.S, Soviet Union, and Cuba during the Cold War era ever to be assembled and offered at auction," the auction house said in an announcement on its website.
1 A pack of cigarettes from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) contains a hidden camera. This "is the world's first and most comprehensive auction event offering some of the rarest and most important artifacts from the U.S, Soviet Union, and Cuba during the Cold War era ever to be assembled and offered at auction," the auction house said in an announcement on its website.
A device known as the Fialka that was used for communicating in secret codes, considered to be a Soviet version of the Enigma machine used by Nazi Germany
2 A device known as the Fialka that was used for communicating in secret codes, considered to be a Soviet version of the Enigma machine used by Nazi Germany
A Soviet-era gas mask
3 A Soviet-era gas mask
Sculptures of Feliks Dzerzhinsky, who led the first two Soviet state-security organizations -- the Cheka and the OGPU -- from 1917 until his death in 1926. His image was later widely used in connection with the KGB. He was one of the organizers of the mass killings known as the Red Terror.
4 Sculptures of Feliks Dzerzhinsky, who led the first two Soviet state-security organizations -- the Cheka and the OGPU -- from 1917 until his death in 1926. His image was later widely used in connection with the KGB. He was one of the organizers of the mass killings known as the Red Terror.
A skull-and-crossbones railway sign with the inscription: Contaminated. The sign was used in the 1950s and '60s to indicate to railway workers and passengers that they were passing through a sector with possible nuclear, chemical, or biological contamination.
5 A skull-and-crossbones railway sign with the inscription: Contaminated. The sign was used in the 1950s and '60s to indicate to railway workers and passengers that they were passing through a sector with possible nuclear, chemical, or biological contamination.
A sculpture of Lavrenty Beria, the chief of the NKVD secret police under dictator Josef Stalin. Beria was an architect of mass killings and the organizer of the gulag prison labor camps.
6 A sculpture of Lavrenty Beria, the chief of the NKVD secret police under dictator Josef Stalin. Beria was an architect of mass killings and the organizer of the gulag prison labor camps.
A Soviet-brand cigarette pack with a hidden camera
7 A Soviet-brand cigarette pack with a hidden camera
An R-394KM radio set used by Soviet spies in the 1980s
8 An R-394KM radio set used by Soviet spies in the 1980s
A bust of Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union
9 A bust of Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union
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