Hollow Nickel Case
Encyclopedia
The Hollow Nickel Case refers to the method that the Soviet Union
spy Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher
(aka Rudolph Ivanovich Abel) used to exchange information between himself and his contacts, including Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin and Reino Häyhänen
.
, at an apartment building at 3403 Foster Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, was paid with a nickel
(U.S. five cent piece) that felt too light to him. When he dropped it on the ground, it popped open and contained microfilm inside. The microfilm contained a series of numbers. He told the daughter of a New York City Police Department
officer, that officer told a detective who in two days told an FBI
agent about the strange nickel.
After the FBI obtained the nickel and the microfilm, they tried to find out where the nickel had come from and what the numbers meant. The nickel had a 1948 front, but because of the copper-silver alloys used the back was from 1942 to 1945. There were five digits together in each number, 21 sets of five in seven columns and another 20 in three columns, making a total of 207 sets of five digits. There was no key for the numbers. The FBI tried for nearly four years to find the origin of the nickel and the meaning of the numbers.
But it wasn't until a KGB agent, Reino Häyhänen (aka Eugene Nicolai Mäki), wanted to defect in May, 1957, from Paris, that the FBI was able to link the nickel to KGB agents, including Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin (an ex-United Nations employee) and Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher. Häyhänen was being recalled to Moscow for good, and defected on the way back in Paris. The deciphered message in the nickel turned out to be worthless, a personal message to Häyhänen from the KGB in Moscow welcoming him to the U.S. and instructing him on getting set up. He gave the FBI the information that it needed to crack the cipher, uncover the identity of his two main contacts in New York (Svirin and Fisher), and a nearly identically made Finnish
50 Markka coin.
In addition to Svirin and Fisher (code name "Mark"), Häyhänen (code name "Vic") told the FBI about Vitali G. Pavlov, onetime Soviet embassy official in Ottawa; Aleksandr Mikhailovich Korotkov; and U.S. Army Sergeant, Roy Rhodes (code name "Quebec"), who had once worked in the garage of the U.S. embassy in Moscow. The Soviets were able to get to Rhodes because it had "compromising materials" about him. Häyhänen and Fisher were in the United States mainly looking for information on the U.S. atomic program and U.S. Navy submarine information.
Svirin had returned to the Soviet Union in October, 1956, so was not available for questioning or arrest.
When Fisher was arrested, the hotel room and photo studio that he lived in contained multiple modern espionage equipment items: cameras and film for producing microdots, cipher pads, cuff links, hollow shaving brush, shortwave radios, and numerous "trick" containers.
Fisher was brought to trial in New York City Federal Court, indicted as a Russian spy, in October, 1957, on three counts:
Häyhänen testified against Fisher at the trial.
On October 25, 1957, the jury found Fisher guilty on all three counts. Judge Mortimer W. Byers sentenced him, sentences to be served concurrently, on November 15, 1957, count one: 30 years' imprisonment; count two: 10 years' imprisonment and $2,000 fine; count three: 5 years' imprisonment and $1,000 fine.
On February 10, 1962, Vilyam Fisher (aka Abel) was exchanged for the American Central Intelligence Agency
Lockheed U-2
pilot, Francis Gary Powers, who was a prisoner of the Soviet Union.
, starring James Stewart, with personal supervision by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The film compresses the time span from four years to just a couple of weeks, the Brooklyn newspaper boy is changed to a small Bronx clothes cleaning and pressing service, and changes the nickel to a half-dollar.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
spy Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher
Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher
Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher was a noted Soviet intelligence officer...
(aka Rudolph Ivanovich Abel) used to exchange information between himself and his contacts, including Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin and Reino Häyhänen
Reino Häyhänen
Reino Häyhänen, was an ethnic Finn Soviet Lieutenant Colonel who defected to the United States.-Birth and education:...
.
Background
On June 22, 1953, a newspaper boy (fourteen-year-old newsie Jimmy Bozart), collecting for the Brooklyn EagleBrooklyn Eagle
The Brooklyn Daily Bulletin began publishing when the original Eagle folded in 1955. In 1996 it merged with a newly revived Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and now publishes a morning paper five days a week under the Brooklyn Daily Eagle name...
, at an apartment building at 3403 Foster Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, was paid with a nickel
Nickel (United States coin)
The nickel is a five-cent coin, representing a unit of currency equaling five hundredths of one United States dollar. A later-produced Canadian nickel five-cent coin was also called by the same name....
(U.S. five cent piece) that felt too light to him. When he dropped it on the ground, it popped open and contained microfilm inside. The microfilm contained a series of numbers. He told the daughter of a New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
officer, that officer told a detective who in two days told an FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent about the strange nickel.
After the FBI obtained the nickel and the microfilm, they tried to find out where the nickel had come from and what the numbers meant. The nickel had a 1948 front, but because of the copper-silver alloys used the back was from 1942 to 1945. There were five digits together in each number, 21 sets of five in seven columns and another 20 in three columns, making a total of 207 sets of five digits. There was no key for the numbers. The FBI tried for nearly four years to find the origin of the nickel and the meaning of the numbers.
But it wasn't until a KGB agent, Reino Häyhänen (aka Eugene Nicolai Mäki), wanted to defect in May, 1957, from Paris, that the FBI was able to link the nickel to KGB agents, including Mikhail Nikolaevich Svirin (an ex-United Nations employee) and Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher. Häyhänen was being recalled to Moscow for good, and defected on the way back in Paris. The deciphered message in the nickel turned out to be worthless, a personal message to Häyhänen from the KGB in Moscow welcoming him to the U.S. and instructing him on getting set up. He gave the FBI the information that it needed to crack the cipher, uncover the identity of his two main contacts in New York (Svirin and Fisher), and a nearly identically made Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
50 Markka coin.
In addition to Svirin and Fisher (code name "Mark"), Häyhänen (code name "Vic") told the FBI about Vitali G. Pavlov, onetime Soviet embassy official in Ottawa; Aleksandr Mikhailovich Korotkov; and U.S. Army Sergeant, Roy Rhodes (code name "Quebec"), who had once worked in the garage of the U.S. embassy in Moscow. The Soviets were able to get to Rhodes because it had "compromising materials" about him. Häyhänen and Fisher were in the United States mainly looking for information on the U.S. atomic program and U.S. Navy submarine information.
Svirin had returned to the Soviet Union in October, 1956, so was not available for questioning or arrest.
When Fisher was arrested, the hotel room and photo studio that he lived in contained multiple modern espionage equipment items: cameras and film for producing microdots, cipher pads, cuff links, hollow shaving brush, shortwave radios, and numerous "trick" containers.
Fisher was brought to trial in New York City Federal Court, indicted as a Russian spy, in October, 1957, on three counts:
- Conspiracy to transmit defense information to the Soviet Union (count one)
- Conspiracy to obtain defense information (count two)
- Conspiracy to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without notification to the Secretary of State (count three)
Häyhänen testified against Fisher at the trial.
On October 25, 1957, the jury found Fisher guilty on all three counts. Judge Mortimer W. Byers sentenced him, sentences to be served concurrently, on November 15, 1957, count one: 30 years' imprisonment; count two: 10 years' imprisonment and $2,000 fine; count three: 5 years' imprisonment and $1,000 fine.
On February 10, 1962, Vilyam Fisher (aka Abel) was exchanged for the American Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
Lockheed U-2
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
pilot, Francis Gary Powers, who was a prisoner of the Soviet Union.
Dramatizations
The case is dramatized in the 1959 film The FBI StoryThe FBI Story
The FBI Story is a 1959 American drama film produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead.-Plot:...
, starring James Stewart, with personal supervision by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The film compresses the time span from four years to just a couple of weeks, the Brooklyn newspaper boy is changed to a small Bronx clothes cleaning and pressing service, and changes the nickel to a half-dollar.