Sell or Auction Your Manhattan Project Hanford Viewing Window for up to Over $20,000 or More at Nate D. Sanders Auctions
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The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory that designed the actual bombs. The Army component of the project was designated the Manhattan District as its first headquarters were in Manhattan; the placename gradually superseded the official codename, Development of Substitute Materials, for the entire project. Along the way, the project absorbed its earlier British counterpart, Tube Alloys. The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion (equivalent to about $23 billion in 2020). Over 90 percent of the cost was for building factories and to produce fissile material, with less than 10 percent for development and production of the weapons. Research and production took place at more than thirty sites across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Below is a recent realized price for a Manhattan Project Hanford viewing window. We at Nate D. Sanders Auctions can obtain up to this amount or more for you:
Manhattan Project Hanford Viewing Window. Sold for over $20,000.
Here is a Manhattan Project item we have sold in the past:
Enrico Fermi Robert Oppenheimer Manhattan Pjct Signed
Typed letter signed by Manhattan Project Director Norris Bradbury, who encloses the signatures of the “five scientists associated with the Atomic Bomb Project.” On a separate sheet are the promised signatures, written boldly by all: “J.R. Oppenheimer”, “Samuel K. Allison”, “E. Fermi”, “N.E. Bradbury” and “G.B. Kistiakowsky”. Letter dated 2 November 1945 is on official “P.O. Box 1663 / Santa Fe, New Mexico” stationery, the secret P.O. Box address used for the project whose physical location was undisclosed. Also includes original mailing envelope postmarked 7 November 1945. Document, measuring 8.5″ x 11″ has some folding from mailing, else near fine. Sold for $3,800.
Here are some other similar items we have sold in the past:
The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, awarded in 2005 to Thomas C. Schelling, the foremost expert on game theory as it applies to nuclear weaponry and international relations, and whose theory is particularly relevant now. Schelling is famously credited with the concept of ”uncertain retaliation”, expressed in his 1960 book, ”The Strategy of Conflict”, in which he argued that unpredictability, a higher tolerance for risk, and a willingness to feign irrationality in decision making can lead, if performed correctly, to a superior position over one’s opponents — especially with nuclear weapons. This so-called ”Madman Theory” was used by Richard Nixon in his negotiations with the Soviet Union and North Vietnam, and many experts have stated that both Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are currently using the strategy in negotiating with each other. Schelling was also one of the “founding fathers” of the modern, leadership-oriented John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and made wide-ranging policy contributions helping to curtail smoking, confront racial segregation, and address climate change.
Nobel medal, made of 18K gold, prominently bears the image of Alfred Nobel upon the obverse, with ”Sveriges Riksbank Till Alfred Nobels Minne 1968” applied in raised letters, encircling the medal. ”T.C. SCHELLING MMV” is engraved to the rim, and the medal’s reverse contains the north star emblem of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, with the phrase ”Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien” applied. Housed in the original red leather case with Schelling’s name gilt stamped, and also accompanied by the original Nobel Prize certificate awarded to Schelling. Medal weighs 6 oz. and measures 2.625” in diameter, consistent with the Nobel Prizes awarded in 2005. Case measures 5.5” x 5.5” x 1.25”. Certificate is housed in custom leather portfolio, then housed in suede-lined clamshell case measuring 9.75” x 14.75”, beautifully accented with Schelling’s initials in calligraphy. All items are presented in near fine condition. The proceeds from the sale of this auction will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center, consistent with the wishes of Thomas Schelling. Sold for $187,500.
Albert Einstein typed letter signed during World War II, with moving content regarding helping Jewish refugees. Dated 10 June 1939 on his personal embossed letterhead from Princeton, Einstein writes to Dr. Maurice Lenz who worked on ”behalf of the refugees during Dedication Week.” Einstein continues, ”…The power of resistance which has enabled the Jewish people to survive for thousands of years has been based to a large extent on traditions of mutual helpfulness. In these years of affliction our readiness to help one another is being put to an especially severe test. May we stand this test as well as did our fathers before us.
We have no other means of self-defense than our solidarity and our knowledge that the cause for which we are suffering is a momentous and sacred cause.
It must be a source of deep gratification to you to be making so important a contribution toward rescuing our persecuted fellow-Jews from their calamitous peril and leading them toward a better future…[signed] A. Einstein”.
Single page letter measures 8.5” x 11”. Folds and light creasing, otherwise near fine condition. Accompanied by Einstein’s embossed mailing envelope, postmarked Princeton on 12 June 1939. Sold for $134,344.
Enigma machine used by Nazi Germany during World War II, the three cipher rotor design (M3) used from 1934 until the end of the war. Considered nearly “unbreakable”, the only flaw inherent to the enigma machine – beyond human error, which would ultimately be its downfall, was the fact that the machine could scramble the letters into any one of 17,576 combinations except the use of its original letter. However, it would be human error, such as signing off each communication with “Heil Hitler” showcased in “The Imitation Game”, that allowed the Allies to deconstruct many of the cipher’s coded communications. Though widely employed by Germany during the war, enigma machines are now very scarce, as Germans were ordered to destroy them lest they fall into Allied hands. Additionally, Winston Churchill ordered all Enigma machines to be destroyed at the end of the war. Only about 250 used during WWII are now believed to still exist, with machines having matching parts, such as this example, even more rare. Machine is model M3, with the serial numbers of the rotors matching the machine itself (since the rotors were interchangeable, this isn’t always the case), in its original wooden case. Serial number engraved on plate attached to the keyboard reads “A // 00660 / bac / 43 E”, matching the serial number of “660” stamped on the plate underneath the rotors, and also matching the serial number on the rotors reading “A 00660 / 43 E”. The metal wheels also bear the engraving of the Third Reich emblem – a black eagle above the swastika. Upon the interior of the wooden lid are the instructions in German, above the QWERTZUIO mechanical keyboard, which would light up when used. Twenty-six bulbs exist on the lamp board, with one broken, and with the socket locations marked Kabelprufung (cable test) and Lampenprufung (lamp test). Original battery is still present, with expected corrosion. Part of leather strap also present but no longer secured to wooden case. Entire machine and case weighs approximately 28.5 lbs. and measures 11″ x 13.25″ x 6″. Sold for $89,250.
Albert Einstein typed letter signed during World War II, with moving content regarding helping Jewish refugees. Dated 14 June 1939 on his personal embossed letterhead from Princeton, Einstein writes to Fred Behr who worked on ”behalf of the refugees during Dedication Week.” Einstein continues, ”…The power of resistance which has enabled the Jewish people to survive for thousands of years has been based to a large extent on traditions of mutual helpfulness. In these years of affliction our readiness to help one another is being put to an especially severe test. May we stand this test as well as did our fathers before us. Single page letter measures 8.5” x 11”. Folds with one-inch split starting at top fold. Very good plus condition. Sold for $29,478.
Unusually personal and autobiographical Sigmund Freud autograph letter signed, with content on Freud’s Jewish heritage and ancestry, the growth of psychoanalysis and the ”intense type of rejection” of it by psychiatrists, his marriage and children, and his professional writings and honorary degree; in essence, the whole of Freud’s life and career, as told in his own words. The content is especially important and unusual as Freud kept tight control over his autobiography, with this letter likely the most comprehensive detailing of it. He writes to fellow psychoanalyst Dr. Paul Federn, one of Freud’s earliest proteges, with Freud even dryly commenting in the beginning of his letter that his reluctance to answer Federn’s correspondence (by misplacing it) was ”most likely as a consequence of my resistance”. Dated 30 June 1913 upon his personal stationery from his home in Vienna, four-page letter reads in part,
”For several months, your communication of 04/21 had made itself untraceable – most likely as a consequence of my resistance…I was born on the 6th of May [18]56 in Freiberg /Moravia. My father and mother came from Galicia. My mother, nee Nathansohn, from Brody, of very distinguished ancestry (the Nathansohn – Kallir family), my father of the merchant class. According to tradition, as he once reported to me, the Freud family is said to sometime have left their hometown of Köln [Cologne] during a period of persecution of Jews and then to have migrated eastward…
Four page letter on two sheets, in German, measures 8.25” x 10.75”. Separations starting along folds and small amount of chipping to edges. Overall in very good condition. With full translation, and with two transmittal envelopes to Dr. Federn, both in Freud’s hand. Sold for $25,000.
FREE APPRAISAL. To buy, auction, sell or consign your Manhattan Project Hanford viewing window for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).
Manhattan Project Hanford viewing window