expert advise

P

Phil

New member
Hi
This is my first post here . The site looks great !.
I have only three helmets , but was hoping you might take a look and see if you can expand my knowledge on the subject please .
I purchased a Prussian enlisted helmet on the net about seven years ago . It has a repro strap and either repro cockades or repainted . There is a bit of a makers mark inside , but very difficult to read .
The Bavarian one I purchased from a shop in Rothemburg , Bavaria about three years ago . I believe this to be an N.C.O's private purchase helmet ??? .. he Saxony one I purchased from the same shop a few weeks ago ( I come from a very remote area in Australia , so you don't get to go into Pickelhaube shops ... so it has been a huge treat to visit this shop while on holidays on two occasions !! ( although I'm sure I was skinned on the price )) . I also am thinking this is an N.C.O's private purchase .. would I be right in thinking that ???.
I also am thinking that these N.C.O helmets are infantry helmets , and suspect that they were made prior to WWI , but that might be because I am thinking the helmzier's are fairly high quality ??..
Anyway ... hi !!, hoping you can help me out .
Phil

There is no visible makers marks on the lining of either of these two if that helps any ?.
But anyway .. hope you can help me out on learning a bit more
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Phil- welcome to the forum!

Woudl it be possible to get some pictures of the liners? that will help with the ID.

thanks

James
 
Hi James
Thanks very much for the welcome mate !.
Hopefully these images will come out .. I'm also at my first day at school with the imageshack !.
Not sure which one will show first so at the risk of telling you something you most likely already know ... the lighter coloured one is the Bavarian .
Thanks for your help .
Phil.
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Welcome Phil,
I will let James and the others comment on the the others, but the Prussian M1915 is as most are found, When the Germans started issuing the Stahlhelm, they sued the same chin straps to conserve resources, the straps were the only thing that held the Kockarden on, so they were lost. Many of these helmets made there way to the US after the war to help sell war bonds, and many were fitted with reproduction straps and Kokarden, I have one that is very much the same as yours. They are not a pretty as the brass fitted helmets, but they are the last of the Imperial German Pickelhauben, and are a very interesting bit of history. As far as price paid for the others, there is a saying, "you can not pay too much for a helmet, you can only buy it too early" With time, the price you paid will seem cheap, these thigs are climbing in price so fast that most old time collectors (like me) are shaking our heads.
Bes twihse
Gus
 
Phil,

Welcome to the forum! I cannot offer an expert opinion however my two cents worth echoes what James said -- may we have more pictures?

The Prussian helmet seems Silver? Is it magnetic?

The Bavarian and Saxon are private purchase helmets. I don't think the word NCO fits very comfortably in the German army. These helmets could easily be for a one-year volunteer or just a rich private. An idea is to try this article:
http://www.pickelhauben.net/articles/new%20OneYearVolunteer.htm

And send more pictures! You are in the right place the knowledge available here is stupendous. You might also try Tony's site:
http://www.kaisersbunker.com/

Best on the web I think. Keep posting questions!
 
joerookery said:
The Prussian helmet seems Silver? Is it magnetic?
Click to expand...

hey Joe, I suspect the Prussian helmet is magnetic, and the Silver look to it is the same as the finish on the "f" marked Pickehaube I picked up at SOS a couple of years ago. The paint looks more silver than gray. Brian looked it over before I bought it ans said that it was correct. The seller had thought it was a silver finish for parade, because the colour is much brighter than the normal dull gray.
Best wishes
Gus
 
G'day fella's
Thank you for the welcomes and very interesting comments ! .
I am attempting to post some pictures of the Prussian helmet , but will try to do it in two posts as I'm still struggling a bit with the imageshack procedure .
To answer a question .. no this helmet is not magnetic , as much as other metals are not attracted to it , but a magnet is attracked to the helmet metal . Thanks also for the link to that very interesting article on the OYV and such . It helped to understand a bit more , although I wouldn't say I took it all in , in one read . Excuse is it was Australia Day here yesterday and the barbie was at maximum temperature all arvo and the beers were going down thick and fast . Anyway , I will try to post these images and see if it works .
Thanks .
Phil.
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Hi again
This is a few more of the Prussian helmet , hope these images help a bit more ?.
There is a lot of residue in the eagle of what appears to be grey paint . Also the best I can make out the marks on the inside of the rear visor are : BJA II and the is one letter or mark in a square . This could be an F or a J .. pretty hard to tell really ? .
Thanks
Phil.

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Hi yet again .
When asked for more pictures I wasn't sure if that was just for the Prussian helmet .. or all of them ?. So at the risk of becoming boring , I have been beavering away on my camera .
This is some more angles of the Saxon one . The liner is in an earlier post and is the darker coloured one . I couldn't make out any marks on that liner .
Thank you once again !.
Phil.

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Hi again , again .
This is some better shote of the Bavarian .
The liner is in an above post and is the light coloured one . The only mark I can see on the front visor is a small white coloured square , but seems to have no letters or markings in it .
Thanks if you are still here after all these pictures .
Hope to be able to squeeze some more info out of you guy's .
Thank you !!!
Phil.

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Also the best I can make out the marks on the inside of the rear visor are : BJA II and the is one letter or mark in a square . This could be an F or a J .. pretty hard to tell really ? .
Click to expand...

Phil,

Before I go to bed try this:
http://www.pickelhauben.net/articles/DepotMarks.htm


the barbie was at maximum temperature all arvo and the beers were going down thick and fast
Click to expand...
first time it was warm enough to go to the driving range here!
 
Hey Phil,
It got above freezing here today for the first time in over a month, so keep your talk of warm weather to your self, and that goes for you too Joe:)
By magnetic, Joe does not mean that it is magnetic, but that it is attracted by a magnet,
Nice collection.
Gus
 
Phil- great helmets!

Like Joe said above, they could be NCO or Private purchase or even OYV!

You got 3 great helmets to start out with! The Saxon is awesome!

James
 
Hi Guy's
Thanks very much for your help in understanding these helmets better and for your nice comments . Knowing full well that you would have a heap of great helmets , it's very kind of you .
Sorry for my mention of the warm weather while you guy's are in the middle of winter . It might make you feel better to know we are struggling in scorching heat here now ... not much fun at all !. I was in Germany last week where it was minus 2 ... and now it's endless days of about 45 degrees .. Which is about 125 in Farenheit I think .
I have found this site and the links a wealth of really interesting information , and am looking forward to following the posts .
Thought I would post one last pic . A joke one this time . This is the day I bought the Saxon helmet . Came back to my accomadations in the evening and through a mixture of poor lighting , excessive alcohol , and some other good luck , somehow came up with this quite spooky , grainy image which looks a bit more like a painting than a photo . I've called this guy Kaiser Philhelm II .... and am hoping my ears are not really that big !!
Thanks .
Phil .

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Phil said:
Hi Guy's
Sorry for my mention of the warm weather. It might make you feel better to know we are struggling in scorching heat here now.
Thanks .
Phil .
Click to expand...

Hey Phil
I guess that it is OK to talk about the weather, as long as you are suffering:)
Best wishes
Gus
 
Great pics and posts Phil. You have definately found a good home with us here on the forum. I think that the guys have accurately ID'd all 3 hauben. The Bavarian and Saxon are definately private purchase due to their officer style liners and quality fittings. The fact that they both have domed spike base fittings rather than officer star studs would back up the OYV, or senior NCO descriptions but there is know way of knowing anything more specific. Flat chin scales indicate infantry while convex scales indicate mounted troops. One other way to ID these is to look at the chinscale bosses which hold the scales on. The flat scale bosses are flat and the other style bosses have to be curved to fit over the convex scale. From what I see in your pics the Saxon and Bavarian are infantry helmets. -8 C today here in Barrie with an 80-100km wind blowing so we are facing a big wind chill factor when out and about. We were at +5C yesterday believe it or not! All the best, Brian
 
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