Vet Estate SE66 M40 SD Heer Stahlhelm W/1/2 Wire Basket-Named

[militariacoll]

Looks to be correct. Direct from vet estate! Any thoughts?

[MAP]

Gotta love the name! What penmanship!

Wires are tough to opine on, especially from photos. But I think it stands a good chance.

Let's hear from others though.

[Schwerpunkt]

from these photos it is not a one looker for me. I always tend to be cautious when the helmet under the wire would be considered a beater helmet , they are easy to upgrade to quadrupple the price.

[TrajanLaszlo51]

Close up pics of wire would be needed to see the detail, but from looking at it the wire, seems to me to not be consistent with the overall helmet. As Schwerpunkt mentioned, extra caution is always needed "when the helmet under the wire would be considered a beater helmet." So, I agree with his assessment.

Alex

[militariacoll]

Alex,

I will post more photos tomorrow of closeups of the wire. I realize wire baskets are quite scarce and helmets have been "enhanced" over the years. I am only trying to qualify this example one way or the other.... I have an auction company and specialize in military memorabilia and have had a lot of great direct vet estate items over the years and of course have auctioned several collections also. This helmet is directly from the vet's estate and was the only military item found. He had the helmet in an attached outside garage shed. I'm not sure what the description of being a "beater" actually means. I have handled many original German helmets over the years and only a couple of wire helmets but were from collections. This example is the 1st wire helmet that truly came directly from the vet estate. There is no intent to add value here at all! I also understand that making an assessment via photographs can be much more difficult than having observed an item "in hand". And I also realize that just because an item comes from the estate of a veteran does not indicate beyond a doubt that the item is original untouched WW2 period item! Although, it has been my experience that when an item has come directly from the vet estate the likely hood percentage of actually being an original item does increase.

[militariacoll]

Here are more photos. The flash seems to make the M40 field repaint exterior flaws more prominent. There is a lot of "thick" dust accumulation evident underneath the wire strands and it appears that the wire appears to have traces of the field gray finish in spots..... The exterior finish has consistent wear IMO. The interior liner is still supple exhibiting darkening and wear consistent from storage in a non climate controlled environment...... The soldier who wore this helmet (with or without the wire) was right handed as you can see the finger wear on the front of the shell..Again, I am only trying to qualify the wire basket that has been attached to this helmet as it was acquired DIRECTLY from the vet's estate.

[militariacoll]

I have added more photos of the exterior finish and wire configuration.... When you mention the term "beater" are you referring to a non mint combat worn example? I am confused as to the term...

[MAP]

I still think it stands a good chance.

You will get many opinions. Often conflicting, given the above noted concerns on how hard these are to authenticate and easy to fake.

I've always said, I would never by a wire helmet unless I pulled it from the Vet's footlocker myself

[Schwerpunkt]

The wire seems to have paint on it , if the decal (and the rest of the helmet) has the same paint over it I think it is a good one.
But I can't see for sure if the decal is damaged or overpainted.

[militariacoll]

Schwerpunkt,

I have tried to get a couple of higher resolution closeup photos of the decal area and it appears there are a couple of scenarios here.... yes, the wire has traces of the same paint and in hand and looking through a high powered loop, It certainly appears the decal has traces of overpaint and exhibits bubbling/crackling from having been applied over the rough texture. There is also an indication that there may be another Heer decal underneath the field gray repaint. The decal also exhibits some "scratch" wear from the wire when the basket was fitted. Again, I am not trying to make this into something it is not. I have handled a couple of original period wire helmets from collections that were period applied and I have observed several other examples where it was obvious the wire was later post war applied. As I had stated previously, this helmet was acquired directly from the vet's estate and was the only WW2 period German item in the estate. The vet was moving into an assisted living facility. I am only trying to qualify one way or the other as this helmet will be offered for auction in the near future on behalf of the estate.

Daryl





(Bagwell & Assoc. Auction Co.)