Irish M1927 Helmet

[MAP]

Have a quandry here. I purchased this Irish Free State M1927 Helmet.

It has been restored.:
1) Painted,
2) Some missing pads replaced with felt
3) Parts of the leather Liner band has been replace with new leather.

It was obviously a labor of love to go through all this trouble. And I knew when I purchased it, it was restored.

Now my question?

Is it worth keeping in this condition? Is there any collector value (not necessarily monetary value). I know there were only ~10k made and most were destroyed.

I'm debating to return it and trade up for a nice Portuguese M16 helmet with original painted insignia or liner. I just don't have one yet and have not seen them available around here.

Thanks!

Michael

[meyle77]

interesting piece might be worth restoring but you might run into big trouble and ruin it.
i personally would try to strip the outside top coat.

[Gunny Hartmann]

I don't know the true value but i was offered one about a year ago with no liner for £150.

[meyle77]

they seem to pop on ebay regularly - i want one for the collection :-)

[MAP]

they seem to pop on ebay regularly - i want one for the collection :-)

Meyle/Gunny - Thats my quandry. I don't have one and want one. This one is "restored" and not original. Debating if I should return and pop of a nice Portuguese M16 with liner and painted crest and wait for another Irish helmet to come along.

Thanks!

- - ------- - -

I don't know the true value but i was offered one about a year ago with no liner for £150.

This one restored was around that price....

[meyle77]

i think that most irish helmets you will find will be messed with in some way so you need to pick the best one.

[James C]

an interesting example ,ive never seen liner bands spliced old to new before ,the owner certainly did his best to refurbish this and keep some originality, im sure these were whitewashed ,all the examples ive seen so far were anyway ,its missing its frontal insignia too ,ii guess its up to you ,i dont see them come along that often

[MAP]

an interesting example ,ive never seen liner bands spliced old to new before ,the owner certainly did his best to refurbish this and keep some originality, im sure these were whitewashed ,all the examples ive seen so far were anyway ,its missing its frontal insignia too ,ii guess its up to you ,i dont see them come along that often

Yes James. It's a quandry. I want my cake and eat it too. Who ever did this, spent a lot of time restoring it and did quite a good job judging from the splicing.

Kind of want someone to push me over the edge :-) one way or the other because obviously I'm too torn........... :-(

Thanks,

Michael

[meyle77]

You can always buy it and upgrade to a better one in the future :-)

[James C]

personally id have an irish example on my shelf as opposed to the fluted portugese m16 but thats just my opinion ,its all about what appeals to you most