National Security Agency
NSA Technical Journal: ‘Coupon Collecting and Cryptology’ (1966)
Study · written 1966 · released 22 September 2026
Why this matters
A mathematical paper by Marie Capozza from the Fall 1966 NSA Technical Journal, applying the classic 'coupon collector' probability problem to cryptology. The NSA released it more than nine years after the request. Pure Cold War cryptomathematics, by one of the agency's women mathematicians.
Read the original
https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/nsa-releases-1966-secret-study-on-coupon-collecting-and-cryptology-after-nine-year-foia-wait/
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Tags
Part of a collection · step 3 of 9
Cold War Signals Intelligence
What the mathematicians were actually doing: a 1966 paper from the in-house journal.
Cite
National Security Agency. "NSA Technical Journal: ‘Coupon Collecting and Cryptology’ (1966)." 1966. Released 22 September 2026. https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/nsa-releases-1966-secret-study-on-coupon-collecting-and-cryptology-after-nine-year-foia-wait/ (accessed via The Quiet Archive, QA-0133).
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