I got this helmet for free, what is it?

[E Bryers]

Hey Patrick! I would too lol. Its a really nice example. By the way I should add by saying it was a rear seam shell means its post WW2. Its not uncommon to find WW2 shells which were front seam, Reissued post war. Cheers! Sean.

Hey seandm, this doesn't have much to do with the subject of the thread, but I thought I'd mention that an M-1 having a rear-seam does not necessarily mean that it's post-war. Production switched from front to rear-seam in October I believe of 1944, so there was a large number of rear-seam wartime shells.

Not trying to be nit-picky here, just wanted to point it out for future reference!

Cheers,

Evan

[christek]

Hi Patrick,

I can't properly read the heat stamp in your shell, this is usually a good way to ID the age (not always possible though). Rear seam could be Late WWII onwards. The chin straps are post war. The shell appears to have a sand texture, so if not post war manufacture, it certainly has had a post war repaint/retexture. The liner looks to be 1955-62 design. If the liner has a brass eyelet hole in the front, it's late WWII or a Korean War era Capac etc. from the early 50's. There should also be a stamp inside the liner.

A Price guide is always a bit difficult on M1's, especially when the liner is not ID'd. The late WWII/Korean war liners are a bit more valuable than post war. Jake is right about the straps, un-marked (no anchor) and painted straps are a bit less common, but they still could be later than Korean War era. All in all, still a nice set up, but keep in mind, literally millions apon millions of US m1's were manufactured, so these do not fetch much of a premium; about $50-$100. Not bad for free

[M18922]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it.