Exploring Espionage: The Hollow Nickel

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30 Nov 2025

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A single coin paid to a 14-year-old boy would expose a Soviet spy.

In the aftermath of WW2, the stage had been set for some serious spying. In a world still reeling from the social and economic aftermath of total war, the presence of nuclear weapons would play heavily on the public psyche. With duck and cover being taught in schools and the feeling that nuclear war was looming ever closer, those countries that didn’t yet have “the bomb” would look to urgently rectify that issue. When this would eventually develop into a full-blown Cold War, the stage would be set for some intense espionage in the 1950s.

In today’s Exploring Espionage, we’re wandering back to that one time a lightweight nickel and a 14-year-old boy were able to deal a knockout blow to an established Soviet spy ring.

The Background

In a world full of all manner of spy gadgets, it’s easy to picture hidden cameras, invisible ink and other trickery that might assist intelligence agencies in going about their work. But to a 14-year-old boy in 1953, the discovery of a hollow coin filled with a secret microfilm must have been stranger than fiction. Except, this wasn’t fiction. It was the start of a discovery that would be so big, it would eventually result in the exchange of a US fighter pilot being held as a prisoner of war.

For Newspaper boy Jimmy Bozart, the coin felt instantly strange, although initially he couldn’t quite work out why. Despite feeling light, it wouldn’t be until the coin was accidentally dropped that the cover would pop off to reveal the secrets inside.

Containing a series of numbers, he wasn’t sure what it was, but it was reported to the local police anyway, before eventually coming across the desk of an FBI field agent. Louis Hahn, who would eventually take possession of both items, would conduct an investigation in an attempt to identify the information however, his initial attempts would be unsuccessful.

The matter would become a cold case for a full four years before a defection in 1957 would eventually shine light on the matter. KGB defector Reino Hayhanen was able to identify the nickel as being linked to a KGB dead drop program. More importantly, it was also revealed that he himself was the agent who had conducted the initial dead drop pickup.

The case had just gone hot again.

The FBI mugshot of Rudolf Abel. Source: Wikipedia.

Rudolf Abel

With the information provided by the defector, FBI agents looked further into the matter and eventually, cryptographic analysts were able to crack the cipher. This would reveal them to be a set of instructions that the spy was to use in getting established in the United States. While much of the information would be mundane, agents were able to identify multiple US contacts thanks to this information.

One would be a United Nations employee (that’s a whole other story), and the second would be a William August Fisher, who would go by the codename “Mark”. With the FBI still needing to validate this information, surveillance would be placed on Fisher in an attempt to properly identify him.

Agents were able to obtain a photograph of Fisher, which would be shown to the defector who confirmed the identity. Once this had been done, the ante was upped with increased surveillance in preparation for an arrest.

Fisher, who worked as an artist, was able to evade suspicion in his usual routine thanks to his profession, which was already known for odd hours and short-notice trips. Despite this, he would still draw attention on occasion thanks to his heavy drinking.

Catching The Spy

The problem Fisher had was with Hayhanan himself. Rather than working as a solo spy, he’d been working as part of an established ring of which Hayhanan had also been involved. While Fisher had been able to identify the increased surveillance on him, the assumption that Hayhanan had been compromised meant that Fisher assumed all his other identities had been compromised as well.

Rather than being able to make a clean break, Fisher was entirely burnt.

Fisher would eventually leave his apartment for the Hotel Latham on 15th June 1947, but at this point, it was already too late as his FBI tail would follow him directly to the hotel, where they would maintain surveillance.

Fisher, who suspected that the police were close, had already made the decision to refuse to co-operate with the FBI and instead maintain his silence and loyalty to the KGB in an attempt to protect his wife and child, who remained in the Soviet Union.

On the 21st of June, the ruse was up. At 7 am, FBI agents would knock on the door, where they would directly address Fisher as “Colonel” and disclose their knowledge about his espionage activities and take him into federal custody.

Once this was completed, a search of the hotel room and Fisher’s possessions would reveal shortwave radios, cipher pads, microdot films and other espionage material. Fisher had been literally caught red-handed.

Abel would eventually be returned in a prisoner swap later in the Cold War. That’s him, second from left in 1964. Source: Wikipedia.

The Fallout

Despite the case initially being iced for a number of years, the capture of Fisher/Abel would be seen as a huge intelligence bonanza for the FBI. Not only was he one of the highest-ranking officers to be captured at that point, but he also provided a rare win to the agency in a time of extreme tension.

While he maintained his silence and refused to cooperate, the capture would still provide a huge insight into how the Soviets would operate human intelligence networks. It would also provide a legal framework for prosecuting spies and foreign agents under conspiracy statutes.

This conviction, which would typically result in the death penalty, was instead applied as 30 years of imprisonment, partly because the US recognised his potential value in future prison exchanges.

Abel’s attorney, James Donovan, who would be responsible for negotiating the deal, would return in 1962 when Abel would return to the spotlight after the shootdown incident of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers.

The “Bridge of Spies” would be responsible for several high profile exchanges. Source: Wikipedia.

Powers and Abel would eventually be returned to their home countries in a prisoner exchange deal that would primarily be brokered by Donovan. The swap would also involve US student Frederic Prior, who had been imprisoned due to unrelated matters, making the deal a multi-prisoner swap.

The exchange would take place at the border of Glienecke Bridge, which would eventually be known as the “Bridge of Spies” due to its recurring use during several noteworthy prisoner exchanges.

Sometimes, life evolves to be even stranger than fiction.

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