Iowa man creates spy props for Tom Hank thriller that opens today

A hollow nickel plays a central role in Tom Hanks' new Cold War thriller "Bridge of Spies," which opens in theater's today.

The movie, which premiers in October, tells the true story of the negotiations to exchange Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for captured U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers. Abel was convicted of espionage in 1957 after his paperboy in Brooklyn was accidentally paid with a hollow nickel. The coin contained microfilm that Abel used to communicate with other spies.

The nickel, which has an Iowa tie, makes an appearance in the movie trailer and figures to have prominent role — for a prop, anyway.

Francis Lebeda built the trick coin in the crowded machine shop behind his Cedar Rapids home.

An engineer, inventor and general tinkerer, Lebeda has become a go-to prop-master for odd objects needed by the film industry.

The 77-year-old got his first opportunity to build props for movies in the late '80s. "Miles from Home" starring Richard Gere was being filmed in Iowa and Lededa drove out to the set and asked the producers if they needed anything made. A replica of a Soviet medal Lededa created in his shop using dental tools makes an appearance in the movie.

Later, he built a replica of an 1864 telegraph key for Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York."

For "Bridge of Spies," Lebeda also made a replica set of Soviet microphones and a trick half-dollar coin. The coin contains a spring-loaded pin that in real life would have been tipped with poison, and used by an American pilot to commit suicide if shot down over enemy territory.

The telegraph appeared in "Gangs of New York" for just an instance. Lededa said he expects the spy nickel and other props to get more screen time.

"I know damn well I should have three minutes, easy," he said.

Lededa still works his day job running a one-man engineering firm, despite having triple bypass heart surgery in May. He specializes in fixing printing presses, but he's repaired or built everything from antique air conditioners to vintage pistols small enough to be concealed in your palm.

He also holds a patent for laser drumsticks. He engineered a way to install a laser pointer into a hollowed-out drumsticks so percussionists could create a light show along with their music. He used similar technology to create light-up twirling batons he sells to marching bands and cheer squads.

Making the nickels for "Bridge of Spies" was easy, Lededa said. He hollowed them out using a cutting machine in his shop. When he was 12, he used the same technique to create a two-headed nickel in his dad's shop.

"I never lost a coin flip when I was in school," he said.

Lededa wouldn't say how much he gets paid for the work, but said it's a "fairy tale job" to create props for movies.

"My wife says I should be charging more, but I'd do it for nothing," he said.