*help needed asap*German helmet

[Giants77]

Okay guys I have taken what you have said and Iam trying to do better this guy was asking 500 for this helmet and said he would take 420 USD which is right in my price range I wanted to get the okay from you guys before I give him the yes to buying it so what do you guys think about this one. And I asked for better pictures for the batch number and makers mark so I’ll put them up here when I get them.

[real steel]

IMO...$400 would be "tops" to pay for this one. Someone placed a decal of some sort on a very high lot# helmet (#5354). This liner is, or should be dated 1944 & therefore should not have a Heer decal this late. It's most likely a repro decal being there is no staining or affected patina where the decal breakdown is. Add to that, the liner band is warped in a couple of areas usually signs of post war replacement when it is a steel band. The leather is that flimsy...paper thin, laminated seam construction we see on late war liners.
I personally would pass because the placement of what I think is a post war decal are signs the helmet has been messed with.

By the way...see, you are in a rush again. Why ASAP ? "Haste makes waste"
D.

[Giants77]

Alright thank you! I’ll trust you in this and pass on it.

[Giants77]

And my bad about the ASAP lol he wanted a answer like then and there.

[real steel]

I understand. Let him wait. Not like you are spending $30. $500 is a decent amount of money to put into an investment. One needs to get it right & the seller should be a bit understanding
D.

[Danmark]

Use Davids observations to bump the price down and maybe with some soaking the decal remnants can come off ( looks a water slide anyway and you can soften that glue )

[MAP]

If they (the seller) is pushing you....just walk away. It's your money and you control the negotiation.

You WILL find "the one" eventually and when you do, you will know.

You've started to come up the curve. If you look back just a few "helmets" ago, you can see you are at least starting to ask the right questions and also identifying some of the more obvious issues.

[Giants77]

I’ve talked to him about it and repeated what you have said we have Come to an agreement of 350 if I say yes. Is that a decent price?

[MAP]

I’ve talked to him about it and repeated what you have said we have Come to an agreement of 350 if I say yes. Is that a decent price?

As David noted, we can not see if the liner has been swapped in post war (would need photos of the inside of the split rivet pins to see if they have been re-bent).

I'm not so worried about that decal, I think as Dan noted, with a little TLC it can be removed with little impact to the underlying paint.

So...$350 is at the top end....if...you can live with a helmet that has on original but post war replaced liner.

Ask him if he can send you photos of the split pins (give me a second and I will find a photo to show you what to look for).

You just might get lucky and the liner has not been messed with.

Edit: This is a photo of an original unmessed with split pin with washer. You can see it has not been re-bent. Let me now see if I can find a photo of one that has been messed with....



Edit 2: Look at post 66 of the linked thread below, the last photo. you can clearly see that the split pins have been tampered with (i.e. a replaced liner)

Thoughts on M42 Single Decal Heer Helmet

[Giants77]

Alright I have just asked him I will let you guys know if I get the pictures of them. Thank you guys for all the help.