Estate sale M-16 Shell. Addressed and stamped.

[Nathan362]

Hello guys,

Left work in the wee hours of the morning to hit an estate sale with a lot of interesting items. The others items I was able to obtain will be shown in a separate thread. This is an M-16 Shell, nothing too fancy. The most unusual thing about this is the address and stamps that are affixed to the shell. Also I believe the helmet was stripped of its liner overseas, because another period tag is tied through one of the pin holes. If only this thing could talk. It has some pretty hard knocks, but who knows, combat, shipping, or post war neglect!?

Thanks for viewing!

[Jan]

What a great item , wish it could talk link to the area here

Micheville, Briey, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France: Maps

Best,


Jan

[cricketchris1944]

That is a great helmet.
I have been looking for one for some time now.
great pick-up
chris

[unimarc]

Like it a lot !

Guess you couldn't send an item like that, that way today ;-)

Mfg
Marc

[relicz]

Alway had a soft spot for mail home helmets. Nice find, congratulations.

[oradour]

Nathen, a wonderful find, leave all the stickers/tags in place, great patina, original paint, it does not get much better !
What are the stampings in the helmet, located on the inside of the skirt near the chinstrap lug, for example "ET 66", it is either a size 66/68 looking at the size of the air vents..........there will be a number stamped in the inside crown of the helmet, steel rolling mill batch number, example "Bi6543".
Prost ! Steve.

[harryamb2]

nice pick up.

[Nathan362]

Thanks guys! Oradour, I wouldn't dream of removing or changing anything on this helmet. No worries there, as I understand the importance of the history beyond it being in combat. I can't believe I forgot to put the maker and size stamp up, You are correct, it is a size 66 helmet, and the maker appears to be "W", although I'm not as knowledgeable about makers of WW1 shells (EDIT: Hermann Weissenberger & Co.) . I will be looking that up ASAP. The stamp inside the dome is unreadable! Also, Jan thanks for that link, it will be an interesting study topic!

[Walkwolf]

Great souvenir lid. Thanks for posting.........!

[canti44]

Hello Nathan,

absolutely fantastic piece of history there. Did you manage to find a specific postage date on any of the stamps by the way, where they franked? Maybe the trooper decided to lose the liner to reduce its weight and cut postage costs, who knows?

Cheers,

Ian.