If any others pop up I will be sure to post them here.
If any others pop up I will be sure to post them here.
I referenced Brian Ice's book on German Helmet Lot Numbers and it gives the following information: M40 Q66 0407 SD SS 42ZSH SM RTGG Q-SS (C407 MISSTAMP)
This would indicate that I do in fact have a repurposed SS helmet. The other lot number 0407 were Q64 only.
Hi hatkat,
Doug is actually right. He is also an advanced collector who knows his stuff. We can not base our facts on batch numbers alone. Batch numbers may provide a tiny clue only and not sufficent enough to establish branch of service. I shouldn't have called it out an "SS", that was a mistake. I'm not saying its not an SS, its possible, but being that not only the decal but the entire finish is gone, we will never know. Again, my sincere apologies for the confusion.
regards
Samir
I'm truly sorry to hear this hatkat, I know getting great news about something you're passionate for only for it to be retracted hours later is at minimum, very frustrating(it's happened to me a few times in this hobby).
On the bright side, I'd assume that though one can never be certain without any doubt, there's still a chance your helmet is an ex-ss example? I'm not a helmet collector so the above is just a guess based on the information I've seen posted here.
Doug knows his helmets, especially SS, better than most collectors you'll ever come into contact with. Saying he's a advanced collector would be putting it modestly...here's his credibility:
You can trust his word, and not just because the amount of helmets that have gone through his hands or even for the exhausting detailed study he's put into this hobby; again, especially SS helmets, but because he's undoubtably one of the kindest members here and will help out anyone in need...friend or foe(well maybe not foe lol).
No problem and I really appreciate both of you sharing your knowledge. I'm happy to find 1) it is truly a War-Era helmet, and 2) it's associated by lot number with two fine helmets. Had you not started this thread I wouldn't know what I know now.
It is a good possibility it was an SS, unfortunately without the actual decals or personalization linking it to the SS there is unfortunately no way to be 100% sure. You can reference another lot number database on German Helmet Walhalla where there are plenty of lot number twins to multiple service branches. I (used to) maintain an SS lot number database with hundreds of SS helmet lot numbers and also ran across many examples of SS helmets that had lot number twins in other service branches.
But like I said the odds are yours was an SS, it just can't be said with 100% certainty.
Cheers, thanks for sharing your helmet with us
Doug
Just found this forum post while researching C407 lot numbers. The SS SD Q66 Lot Nr C407 at the beginning of the post now resides in my collection.
Mike
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