German Helmet = any ideas what this is?

[The Enforcer]

a nice hobby project of someone with a lot of spare time !

[helmet2id]

It is a real shell, M42, with, I think, czech post war paint and a czech post war police or civic type liner. I would think $80-100.

[Mannlicher]

Yep, czech reissue with domestic liner (split pins are bulkier). Got one of these for 50 USD. Nice piece nonetheless, with it's own history.

[Engman]

It is a real shell, M42, with, I think, czech post war paint and a czech post war police or civic type liner. I would think $80-100.

Czechoslovak civilian defence, I'd say. Their post-war civilian defence helmets were black.

[ObKrieger]

i agree with engman and helmet2id.
after ww2 a lot of the german helmets ended up in various places, some were destroyed, some were taken as souvenirs, and some european (and other continents' countries if im not mistaken?) even took a lot of them for their own use. norway did this a lot : )

so to answer your question, its a german M42 shell which was produced mid to late war and it was used by the czechs postwar for civilian defense : )

[militarymania]

still a nice helmet for what it is...

[Engman]

My advice to anyone would be to never try to "restore" a helmet like this. They are their own piece of history and they're not that common to justify such a thing. "Restoring" it to a German helmet is sort of like faking it, if anyone wants a display German helmet - buy a replica! One can't re-make a historical object, if one tries it's not really a historical object anymore. Buy an object for it's existing history, don't try to re-make it's history.

I'd much rather have my German m42 helmets as used by the Danish Civil Defence than to have the "restored". When I'd sell a restored helmet it's just a restored helmet. But my m42 as it is now has a really interesting history. It's a German m42 used by the German troops in Denmark and after the war re-painted and with a replaced liner and then used by the Danish Civil Defence during the Cold War. That's quite a bit more pieace of history than just a "restored original m42 shell".

[Jerry B]

My advice to anyone would be to never try to "restore" a helmet like this. They are their own piece of history and they're not that common to justify such a thing. "Restoring" it to a German helmet is sort of like faking it, if anyone wants a display German helmet - buy a replica! One can't re-make a historical object, if one tries it's not really a historical object anymore. Buy an object for it's existing history, don't try to re-make it's history.

I'd much rather have my German m42 helmets as used by the Danish Civil Defence than to have the "restored". When I'd sell a restored helmet it's just a restored helmet. But my m42 as it is now has a really interesting history. It's a German m42 used by the German troops in Denmark and after the war re-painted and with a replaced liner and then used by the Danish Civil Defence during the Cold War. That's quite a bit more pieace of history than just a "restored original m42 shell".

I agree, leave it as it is. These will be uncommon one day, most will get stripped and repainted, with a fake or replaced liner. Its still got a history, though not much value at this time.

Jerry

[helmet2id]

It is an original M42 shell repainted and relined by the Czechs postwar for Police use. On ebay they will go for between $80 and $150 so your evaluations appear to be right on. Jim G.

[Engman]

It is an original M42 shell repainted and relined by the Czechs postwar for Police use. On ebay they will go for between $80 and $150 so your evaluations appear to be right on. Jim G.

How does one tell the difference between an all black Czechoslovak police helmet and an all black civil defence one?