1878-1881 officers helmet 15th of foot

[Samuel]

Missing the number 15
In its Japanned box
I believe it has a three year window for age..I think this home service helmet was introduced in 1878 to replace the older Shako, you can see the number 15 outline in the centre of the helmet for the “15th regiment of foot”? in 1881 the Childers reforms renamed the 15th to the East Yorkshire Regiment I believe.
Is my helmet authentic??

Your views appreciated
Your welcome to message me with your questions

 

[RoyalScotsVols]

Hello Sam,

Firstly, welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately I think your helmet is a reproduction as the fittings etc. are not of the quality I would expect from an original helmet. I attach below a few photos of my 26th Regt helmet for you to make a comparison.

 

[Samuel]

Thankyou for welcoming me and for your time to answer, I am not challenging your opinion as this was the intention of my posting my helmet, but I am asking that the difference being Yours is beautifully cast and detailed, but yours is a high end officers purchase all hand finished where mine is a standard issue struck die cast plate? Sam

 

[RoyalScotsVols]

Your helmet has the metal binding to the front peak, rear spine and the silk lining to the internal head band which would normally be characteristics of an officers helmet. However, I'm afraid that your helmet is not of an officers quality but also I do not believe that it would have been for any of the lower ranks. I attach photos of my other ranks helmet to the 5th Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Scots for comparison:

 

[chinstrap]

Sam, I’m afraid it’s a repro of an officer’s helmet. A few things - The spike shape is wrong - too narrow at the bottom. The internal fastenings for the spike should be screw posts with a particular type of nut, not loops. The quality of the liner is very crude. There are a lot of good examples of blue cloths in the General Headgear section, which will allow you to compare in more detail. Patrick

 

[Samuel]

Ok, thankyou both.
Regards