Page 6 : Beale Ciphers Analyses
An interesting crypto observation on the codes
With C3, perform the following calculation:
| Code | Add the digits | Total | Letter of the alphabet for this total | |
| 1 | 317 | 3+1+7 | 11 | K |
| 2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | H |
| 3 | 92 | 9+2 | 11 | K |
| 4 | 73 | 7+3 | 10 | J |
| 5 | 112 | 1+1+2 | 4 | D |
Complete the calculation for all 618 codes, count their occurences, and the percentage of the total for each letter. These are rows 1 and 2 below, in sequence by declining frequency. Rows 3 and 4 are Friedman's standard english-language letter distribution.
| J | K | I | L | H | G | F | M | E | O | N | D | Q | C | P | B | R | A | S | T | U | W | V | X | Y | Z |
| 12.6 | 10.2 | 9.7 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 6.6 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 5 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.1 | .8 | .3 | .2 | .2 | .2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E | T | A | O | N | I | R | S | H | L | D | C | U | P | F | M | W | Y | B | G | V | K | Q | X | J | Z |
| 13 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Not an exact match, but close! C1 and C2 yield similar results.
It's also surprising that in all the 1900 codes in the three Beale ciphers, none of the digits total more than 23, a perfect match for the alphabet. Admittedly, there is only one possible three-digit number totalling more than 26, and that is 999. But the codes include several four-digit numbers.
To prove that this is not a coincidence of the alphabet and the number system, do the same calculation for the number sequence from 1 to 998. The result is quite different. It is an even bell curve peaking in the middle of the alphabet with the letters M and N at 7.5%, and the two ends of the alphabet, A and Z, at 0.3%
I have tried alphabetical substitution and polyalphabetical tests without success.
