Is Cipher 1 protected by a Vigenere Cipher?

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I have mentioned in several posts that I believed the Beale Ciphers were real until I found a 19 character alphabetical string at location 188 when you use the numbered DOI to solve Cipher 1. This string is intentional.

The first question is…Could a magic document exist that will produce a readable document for Cipher 1 AND produce an alphabetical string when solved using the numbered DOI from the 1820. Statistically, you have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding the magic document.

The second question is…Could a second ciphering technique remove the alphabetical string to produce a readable message. I first tried a Caesar cipher which didn’t work so I tried a Vigenere cipher. In the attached pdf, I share a test where I developed a Vigenere Key by assigning numbers to the alphabet that would remove the alphabetical string:

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This did indeed work and I was able to duplicate the scenario where a readable message is encrypted using a Vigenere Key (above) that produces the alphabetical string as described. The cipher creator would have to assign the numbers from the numbered DOI to the alphabetical string. This test supports the idea that a two-step cipher could have been used to create Cipher 1.

The only way to determine whether a Vigenere cipher Key was used is to find the correct 16 characters/numbers that unlock the Cipher 1 message and solve the cipher.

 

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Since my original post, I've determined Cipher 1 is not protected by a vigenere or Gronsfeld cipher. Here's why...

TB took steps to prevent the cipher numbers left with Robert Morriss could not be cracked while he was still alive. When the letter with the KEY(s) arrived from St Louis 10 years later, TB wanted to decode the location on the treasure and distribute it to the heirs identified in Cipher 3.

If TB used a vigenere cipher, he would have to provide the vigenere keywords and explain how to apply the keywords to the message to make it readable. This would only make it more difficult for RM and completely unnecessary.

I've already mentioned this in other posts but posted here so someone in the future doesn't go down this rabbit hole.