M17 Stahlhelm from the 1. garde zu fuß (repo liner)

[DrFrenchToast]

Hi this is my original ww1 German m17 stahlhelm from the 1. Garde zu Fuß (1st German foot guard) It has some battle damage from either close range artillery or grenade, It is a size ET64 but the liner itself is a really good reproduction made from high quality leather with horse hair paddings inside made with original 1907 German sewing machines by prairie flower leather co it is my 2nd favorite item in my relatively small collection

[AndyM35]

Nice original shell but in my opinion the shield is unfortunately a post war addition. This is indicated by the paint being over a pitted shell. These types of insignia (also known as the Hohenzollern shield) which are very scarce, would never have been painted over a pitted shell, only a period in service helmet. The paint of both the insignia and number also lack the type of age patina and brush strokes expected of period painted helmet. On known original examples the white sections of the shield have darkened to an off white/cream shade rather than the bright white seen on this one. See example below of an original example.


The shell is actually an M16 shell with an M17 steel liner band fitted. The M17 steel liner band is the same as fitted to the late war M18 helmet. There were no M17 shells as such, only M16 and M18. The M17 terminology is more of a collector term.

Having said all of that, it’s still a nice helmet and I agree that they liner is nicely made.

Andy

[DrFrenchToast]

yeah i agree the decal looked off but there were m17 they were the exact same as m16 except due to the leather shortages they replaced the leather liner band with metal and for the m18 it was the exact same except they removed the chinstrap points and added the chinstrap hook points directly to the metal liner band itself like on the ww2 german liners

[DrFrenchToast]

if you want i can show an example of an original M17 with the liner and everything

[MAP]

Sadly and sorry to say but I would agree with Andy. The shield is a recent addition. It is painted over a pitted shell.

[AndyM35]

if you want i can show an example of an original M17 with the liner and everything

No need for a photo thanks. I was referring to there being no M17 helmet shell not the liner band.