1915 Pickelhaube

[oradour]

seigfried.....the dealer you bought the helmet from is Andy Beale, he and his partner are well known in collecting circles, and not for the right reasons ! he shut down the site you used, but still trades on his other site, UKM Sales perhaps you can contact him and point out its authenticity and a hint at tradng standards..........

[siegfried]

Hi,
I have been on both sites this afternoon and admit total defeat.
The Wappen looks to be original, old soldering and pressed with detail on reverse and it is attached via leather wedges but they are new enough to have been cut this afternoon!
I have sent an initial note to the seller and will also have the helmet assessed by an auctioneer friend of the family. I also have several solicitors and lawyers as friends so all is not lost. But certainly something that I can do without.
I have been reading previous posts on the same subject and it is a shame that articles sold as historical pieces are not as they seem.
I am afraid that I will probably not be in a position to replace this fake with a real one now. It took a lot of saving to even get the money together to buy this one as it was in a sale on the site.
Absolutely gutted as it was sat in pride of place in the midst of my small collection. Now I am loathed to allow it anywhere near my other pieces.
Going forward I will ensure that I check with you all before I make any purchases.
Many thanks for your help today, painful though it has been, at least I am better informed and a little bit wiser.
It won't put me off following my passion as I take some items into the local school to give a talk on WWII, and hoping to start one on WW1. The children get such a kick out of actually handling the items. I know that some of you will be thinking me mad to allow this, but as I see it most of these items have managed to survive World Wars so what can a child do!
A helmet worn on D-Day, a childrens gas mask, a baby gas mask, German Helmets, they love them and the feedback has been very positive.

[AntonEbans]

siegfried,

I feel your pain on this, I too have bit the bullet on several occasions. The M18 you see in the photo came from seller in Poland, who had fixed a relic up enough to look like a decent helmet on ebay.
However, your comment about letting children handle original items? I can't judge on that, but if you look at the grenades in the photo, the one on the right was in the same condition as the one on the left before my Father let me play with it. My Father served in the Pacific during WWII and was a trophy hunter (also a VERY good poker player) and won the grenade on the right in a poker game. after time (and abuse) it's condition went down hill and since then I use this as an example of unproper handling. Of course this is just my opinion.

Anton






Sorry about the poor quality of the photos, I just received some very good advise on taking photos from an expert, BUT I've yet to apply the lessons!

[siegfried]

Anton,
Many thanks for the pictures and sympathy vote.
I am careful with the items that I share with the children, and they only put on the helmets and gas masks. Being that some of the children haven't seen these things outside of museums or on film, it gives them a great chance to feel the items and experience just a moment of touching something that was actually there.
The year 6 students study the evacuation and have to make their own gas mask boxes, name labels and walk to the local station as if they are being evacuated. By letting them handle the actual items punctuates the theme for them. The teachers have advised that the experience certainly spiced up the learning and for some of the children brought the whole thing to life.
I use a collection of repro rationed items to demonstrate how little chocolate a childs 2 week ration was, and how little attention to detail was given to using fancy wrapping during the war as it was such a hardship to actually obtain sweets back then that it would have been okay to package the items in brown paper.
There is always a deep "wow" when I get out the German helmets.
Hopefully in amongst them will be some future collectors who will look to carry on our work in preserving history.

Great items by the way, love the grenades. I wish that my Grandfather had been a better poker player. Although he was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender on board a ship somewhere in the Pacific(apologies to the experts for my lack of knowledge) and his photos of this event are well cared for.
He did leave me a Hitler Youth knife and a very nice German Coast Guards identification book that has just about every boat afloat in it.

I will get round to posting more of my items with associated questions. This site is like finding Eden.
Thanks again for the post.