M34 Evaluation....

[lleno]

Hey now, I'd appreciate if you guys could give me an idea of how the damage to this helmet will affect it's value? A few people have said that battle damage[if it is that] will affect value in a negative way. This sure looks like schrapnel/bullet damage to me.What I'm trying to figure is if this helmet was worth say 400 w/o damage, how much is it worth with the damage??I don't plan on selling it, but I would like to know how damage affect value....I'm pretty attached to my collectibles, the helmet is otherwise in good shape,double decal[police decval-99%,party decal-80-85%]original liner,correct stamping,original paint,I'd give the helmet a 8 out of 10[not considering the holes],thanks everyone,Lenny

[ObKrieger]

A complete, mint double decal M34 is worth almost that much, but they are too common in average and even good shape. I would guess that this damage is post-war, but I think that you will find that most collectors will assume that unless there is some sort of provenance that proves that it is actual wartime damage. A lot of these helmets were abused after the war at shooting ranges, by children who played with them, by people who buried them or used them as pavement (true story) and therefore so-called "bullet holes" and "shrapnel damage", etc, are often avoided by collectors who would rather pay for a complete, solid example instead.

That being said, you will find people who have unique tastes and battle-damaged helmets are no exception.

If you shop around, you can sometimes find these helmets in very good condition for $150 or so. Assuming that the decals, liner, etc on your helmet are fine (which I am only saying because we have no pictures of any of that) you can probably expect to receive around the same price for it. Your best bet would be to take good, detailed photos of each decal, stamps, etc. and post them for evaluation. People mess with these things a lot over time. Make sure that you have a wartime M34 instead of a newer one. This particular type of helmet was used by German firefighters up until the 90's and fakers will often just slap a couple of decals on them and call them real.

Best regards,
Mo