WW1 german helmet

[msghomemaintenance]

Hi im new here, just been on a holiday to see some ww1 battle sites and picked up a helmet from albert basilica museum. I was told it was donated by a private collector and is genuine. I am not 100% certain but after hours of googling it looks like a genuine m16. it clearly has et66 stamped inside.

It it painted camoflague and has a white ring on one side with a machinegun in it, the paint looks very old and faded.

[msghomemaintenance]

it looks pretty much like this one and is in at least as good condition, the paints maybe a bit more faded but leather inside is slightly better
The Collector's Guild

im very interested to know if its real or fake.
definately not for sale, its the start of my collection

[oradour]

msghomemaintenance, sorry but im not keen on this one..im allways suspicious of 'machine gun' and 'Guard' decaled (infact they are not decals but painted on) M16/17 & 18 helmets, the shell is a genuine ET66 it has vents (the so-called horns) that correspond to size of the helmet, i.e. not stepped as on smaller sizes. But the liner looks to be artificially aged, it should by now have shrunk a little here and there, as does the paint finish. By now nearly 100 yrs old these helmets IMO do not look as this one does, it reminicent of a restoration job. What price did you pay, as one in similiar condition would be on sale for around £6-700. You need to post better and bigger photos for better evaluation.

[msghomemaintenance]

i paid 150 euros about 135 quid i think
the machine gun is definately painted on, sorry my pics are poor and hard to make it out.

[oradour]

msghomemaintenance, im sorry, but at that money from a museum, its going to be a repainted and aged shell.

[msghomemaintenance]

as long as its real and not a reproduction im happy

[oradour]

as long as its real and not a reproduction im happy

msghomemaintenance, just check in the inside of the helmet top crown area, there should be a number, for example K42, this is the batch number of the steel used to form the helmet from.
i have posted a shot of my M16 to show the sort of degredation you can expect to see after 90 odd years !(Left click your mouse over the photo for even larger image, and you will see what i am trying to explain) you can make out the batch number if you enlarge, i consider mine to in good condition for its age !....yours still looks good and is great for display.

[msghomemaintenance]

ah yes. i think mine has been repainted i can make out a 6(or 9) but its not clear like yours

[TRT]

£130 is a reasonable item for a restored item and it will display well. £600 plus is the price for a good cammo these days and more from main dealers or particularly good ones. However many repro paint jobs out there including repro paint over perfectly good field grey helmets.

TRT