08/19/2017
Here we have an unaltered WW2 German Army (Heer) helmet from the pre and early war period (model 1935) with the separate ventilation hole bushing and complete period liner.. or do we??
This one was recently shared with me by a friend after it came into his shop. I would like to share some details that can help differentiate between a genuine unmessed with early war German helmet and one that's been "refurbished" post-war, and save you, the collector money!
On the exterior, the paint and near perfect decals look enticing but the real tale is inside. Look closely at the chin strap connections to the liner bails and we find rivets.. not correct, these should be held on with a metal stud going through holes in the chin strap and the strap should be removable. If you look at the liner, the leather color is correct but there are ventilation holes in the headband portion in the front that are typical of post war used liners, not pre 1945. The liner is also marked size 60 which is large (7 3/4" in US size) and this is a medium sized helmet shell, Germans are very detail-oriented and did not mismatch like this in my experience.
Well, since the liner is bogus it makes you question the rest of the helmet.. on closer inspection of the outside, we find the liner split pins have incorrectly shaped heads with incorrect squared off edges. Decals don't have that "sunk in appearance" of originals and are most likely repo. I feel that the paint itself is post war applied as the sharp edges don't have the typical wear through of a helmet that was used for many years, even if the use was light.
So, it is all in the details.. I hope to bring many more pieces of all types to this page in the future that it will be interesting and educational to you the reader, Best!
