original Farina helmet, modified original or fake?

[Odraodez]

Hi guys, once again I'm asking for your help.
I found this very interesting Farina modello alto, but I have some doubts.



First of all, is it original?
For what I have seen the helmet has all the characteristics of a normal farina, the only thing that doesn't is is the paper stamp, but the lower part is quite rusty and it's ok if it doesn't have it.
I have to stress "lower part", because:
second, could the dome be new?
From the phots I have it seems that the dome and the lower part are quite differtent: the lower part is very rusty, when the dome only have some pitting and actually seems to still have some paint. Even the seller pointed out this thing, and somebody suggested him that it could be from a m33 helmet.

What do you think?

[MAP]

Cool. Can't help with originality but great find if it is!

[Odraodez]

Well, I hope you're right .
Anyways, an important collector on instagram (helmets_seekers) thinks that it is original. He noticed that even the dome, even if it doesn't have so much rust as the lower part, seems to be good because the welds and corrosion points are in line with the lower part.

[Tinhat]

I saw this thread earlier in the week but didn’t get home to check my books until yesterday.

Firstly, I have never handled or looked closely at one of these before, so my opinion should not be considered as a knowledgeable authority, but the helmet deserves more comments.
When I compared it against all the images in the book (Helmets of the First World War: Germany, Britain & Their Allies by Haselgrove, Michael J., Radovic, Branislav), this looks to have all of the features of an original.
The front thick plate should be made of four separate plates riveted together, your example looks to have that, and the corrosion looks old not a modern chemical version. Does the chinstrap fitting have any leather still trapped underneath?

They came in two sizes weights ranged between 2,650 and 2,850g. for size I, between 1,680 and 1,880g. size II, that could be another check point.
There are probably better Italian sites but this has some good information italia gaede

I like it a lot.
Steve

[Odraodez]

I will go to see it in person in a few days, so I will pay attention to every detail you said.
Thank you very much Tinhat.

[Odraodez]

I have some news. I contacted some collectors, and most of them said that at least the armor is original, but I still wanted to have the opinion of a proper expert. I won't say the name for discretion, but he is considered the biggest expert in ww1 Italian pieces. He was very kind to help me and he said that the helmet is completely fake, "aged perfectly". This was actually quite fortunate bacause I would have bought the helmet the very next day.
Also, fortunately the seller took this in a good way and he wasn't mad.

[toot]

what is a FARINA HELMET? country, time period? thanks. toot.

[lokvar]

Original one!!

[Odraodez]

Toot it is a ww1 helmet developed by the Italian army during ww1 and given to the "guastatori" (sappers)

[Odraodez]

lokvar I trust the opinion of "the expert". He has a lot of experience with Farinas and I've also seen some "certified fakes" that are the exact copy of the original, this is why hi had a 5% of doubts.

You can see a lot of examples on this forum ELMI ED ELMETTI FARINA (database) , but it is all in Italian so I don't know how useful it will be. To summarise what they say: most of the farinas you see on the market are probably fake, made by "Kajov" (I suppose in east Europe) and now also in Italy, they are copied to originals and aged perfectly with chemicals.