Chinese Gold Bar Cipher
In 1933, seven gold bars allegedly issued to a General Wang in Shanghai, China. These gold bars, which contain pictures, Chinese writing, some form of script writing, and cryptograms in Latin letters, appear to represent metal certificates related to a bank deposit with a U.S. Bank and the Chinese writing has been translated, and discusses a transaction in excess of $300,000,000.
When I see encryptions that incorporate multiple languages (in this case, chinese & english), you should think about whether the wo/man who made the cypher wanted the world to know (ie both english and chinese speakers) or wanted a very specific person to know (in 1930, I can’t imagine there’s more than a handful of people that’s fluent in both languages, and interested in cryptography)
In this particular case, you need to be part historian and part computer scientist. Chinese love numerology. For fun, I’ll give a couple quick hints: What we know is that there are 7 bars, in total weighing 1.8KG, and delivered on 1933.
7:
The number 7 (七, Pinyin: qī) symbolizes “togetherness”. It is a lucky number for relationships. It is also recognized as the luckiest number in the West, and is one of the rare numbers that is great in both Chinese and many Western cultures. It is a lucky number in Chinese culture, because it sounds alike to the Chinese character 起 (Pinyin: qǐ) meaning arise.
18 (I crossed out what’s not important):
In Chinese tradition, the number 18 is normally 十八 (shí bā), but it can also be read as 幺八 (yāo bā), which sounds like 要发 (yào fā), meaning that one is going to prosper. Thus, building floors numbered “18” are often very expensive in China.[citation needed]
Contrastingly, though, the floor 18 of a building in Northern China is viewed as a floor to be avoided, as one can never return from the 18th level of hell.
Togetherness (US and China). Expensive (300 Million 1933 would qualify, no?). And the year is up to you.
Sounds like an ‘agreement’ to me :)… and we haven’t even gotten to the fun stuff either.