M16 Reichswehr Helmet

[helmet2id]

Here is an M16 Reichswehr piece, a W66 helmet with a single hand rendered Tricolor shield on the left side, the universal national helmet insignia from March 1933 through April 1934. In a past life it was camoed, and therefore almost certainly its first owner saw combat in the Great War. The camo was removed at some point - it appears that the camo was probably scraped off with a knife or bayonet from the marks on the shell. Ultimately it was reissued towards the end of the Weimar Republic. It has a steel banded period M17 liner with the white pads, but no chinstrap. These are sometimes hard to judge, but this one has a pretty solid provenance. It was in the Coy collection decades ago and is published in the Baer book on page 100. A big thanks to Jules L. for this one. Hope you like it. Jim G.