Hot Buys from the Cold War

The KGB Espionage Museum of New York City, home to the world’s largest collection of Soviet spy equipment and other Cold War artifacts, has closed permanently due to COVID. The good news for collectors is that Julien’s Auctions will be selling all of the museum’s contents online on February 13.

Here’s your chance to bid on such objects as a gun designed to look like a tube of lipstick (estimate, $800–$1,200); a 1964 hotel room listening bug (estimate, $300–$500); a rare Soviet version of the Enigma cipher machine (estimate, $8,000–$12,000); a purse with a hidden camera and shutter apparatus (estimate, $2,500–$3,500); and a machine used by border guards to detect people hiding in vehicles (estimate, $800-$1,200).