Hey Scott,
Yeah..., that thing is "helmet salad" for sure!
Not poking fun at it, or you. It isn't entirely uncommon for a helmet to have incorrect parts. It happened a lot back in the distant past when the sum of these parts had low value, and even lower collector interest or knowledge. Stuff got cobbled together...
From the photos you have provided, it looks like a pre-1889 style Enlisted Kurrasier shell. It has a ridge running down the back of the crown, and has a stepped visor.
It also has small holes on the sides for the screws which would typically be used to secure the enlisted chinstrap of the type used on this model.
It has the added edge trim modification adopted in 1867 over the ear, but the shell is very tall, which is odd.
My experience with this type of earlier Kurrasier helmet is limited, but just about all of them that I have seen have brass/tomback trim around the edges of the front and back brim and over the ears.
Your example has silver trim, but the rivets are brass? It does not make sense to me unless there is something specific to a certain Regiment that used this type of trim that I am not aware of...
Honestly, when I first saw the trim and the height of the crown of the shell, I thought it might be a fake Indian made helmet shell. I am still kind of halfway thinking it may be a recently made fake shell. I would need to almost look at this in-hand to tell.
If this is an early officer's helmet shell rather than enlisted, and I am incorrect in my summation, then I hope another more experienced member here will correct me. It has what appears to be an officer's spike base attached to the top...
I do not want to send you down the wrong path!
It might benefit you and your museum to have one of your staff docents check out Kaiser's Bunker at
www.kaisersbunker.com
It is run by Captain Tony Schnurr, one of the most knowledgeable and helpful Senior member of this Site here at pickelhaubes.com
If you go there, your docent should be able to quickly identify the parts that you have in order to allay confusion as you go through the process of trading.
You will find Kurrasier and Jager zu Pherd helmets there, both officer and enlisted, from all periods of production.
If you are going to use your shell as your basis for this restoration for your museum's display, then you have your work cut out for you. It has issues, such as the hardware store screws holding the front brim on, which you have highlighted in your photos. If that brim is original to the helmet, then you would probably want that repaired.
Brian Loree here onthis site does excellent repair work, for a fee, and can give you advice in the "pickelhaube restoration" section on what would be needed to fix this.
Bryan.
