Nazis' Enigma machine sells for world record price

London (CNN) -- An Enigma machine which featured in a Hollywood movie about the codebreakers of World War II has smashed auction estimates and sold for a world record price.

The encoding device sparked a three-way bidding war when it went under the hammer at Christie's in London Thursday, selling for £133,250 ($208,137) -- more than double the upper estimate of £50,000.

Christie's said the previous record for an Enigma machine was £67,250, at the same auction house, in November 2010.

Vitally important to the Nazi war machine, the Enigma machine was used by the German military to encrypt messages into a form they believed was unbreakable.   Read More

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