fake untill proved genuine!!!

[LAS VEGAS]

I think we are in an era where every german helmet a collector comes across should be treated as a posible fake untill proved genuine buy carefull study.It goes for all antiques also.Its like guilty untill proved inocent!!!!!I THINK THIS ADVICE IS ESPECALLY RELEVANT TO NOVICE COLLECTORS,Iv seen two helmets on theforum recently that im convinced are genuine.Although if i where a potential purchaser of them i would use the above criteria and study them carefull before wring a cheque,LAS VEGAS

[Paul D]

Which helmets were those ?

[saturno]

could we considered a helmet totally fake even thought the shell is wartime? owning one that is "unretouched" nowadays is too much. so collector with limited budget will settled with an original helmet shell with repro liner. just to have something coming from that era... what's your thoughs on this?

[Schwerpunkt]

I think we are in an era where every german helmet a collector comes across should be treated as a posible fake untill proved genuine buy carefull study.It goes for all antiques also.Its like guilty untill proved inocent!!!!!I THINK THIS ADVICE IS ESPECALLY RELEVANT TO NOVICE COLLECTORS,Iv seen two helmets on theforum recently that im convinced are genuine.Although if i where a potential purchaser of them i would use the above criteria and study them carefull before wring a cheque,LAS VEGAS

That's advice for the stupid , the best advice is to learn from other collectors. Don't study the fakes , study the real ones.

[Paul D]

That's advice for the stupid , the best advice is to learn from other collectors. Don't study the fakes , study the real ones.

Got to concur with that , if you learn what the real ones look like and all the methods of identifying such then the decsions on fakes will be easliy made , studying fakes is not the way to do it .

[francis006]

As I always did , the best IMHO is to study both fake and genuine to find features typical to each one

[tampalam]

I agree that it is easier to see fakes once you have studied lots of genuine helmets. It is how I learned , although I am years behind most of the really knowledgeable guys on this forum. With SS decals, it is a different story. Too many collectors who own genuine SS helmets are not willing to show features unique to them in the belief that some counterfeiter might be able to perfect a fake. So, with SS it is easier to learn from reported and documented fakes.

Regards,

George

[Franz1944]

I agree with studying original WWII stuff. German helmets are very high up compared to the rest of WWII stuff. I am lucky enough to know a expert in German helmets. He is teaching me a lot. Like they saw knowledge is power. But in collecting it save your ass from geting burned by fakes. One last thing ss stuff is way to high in price, that just make more likely to be faked. I would never pay $15,000 for an ss helmet. That insane. To much money at stake, to even be a possible fake.

[LAS VEGAS]

I thought the thread was clear, but it appears some guys misunderstood.All im saying is basiccally have a healthy suspicion on all german helmets offered for sale to you.There are sophisticated fakes that can still fool us,its a bit like buying a classic car you have to go through it carefully to see its an original in all respects ,and not one of the,lookalikes that they are now making of some ferraris ect .Im not saying anything about studying fakes ,that would be pointless largely.All i can say is i have never to my knowledge bought a fake of anything ,be it an antique or car or militaria.ANY ANTIQUE SHOULD BE LOOKED AT WITH A HEALTHY SUSPICION UNTILL STUDY PROVES IT GENUINE ,SOUNDS VERY LOGICAL TO ME,LV

[LAS VEGAS]

PAUL E,The two helmets where a fj one, and a double decAl m35 whose thrEads where on recently.There are some helmets that to the eye look right ,and theses two did Aall im saying is if i where in the market to purchase theses or any helmet even though my gut told me their genuine i would still study them carefully before parting with cash,LV.