M-18 ear cutout stahlhelm

sixjune1944

sixjune1944

New member
Hello all,
I'm a newby here who really enjoys this forum. Here is a helmet I picked up 2 weeks ago at a show. The dealer had recently bought a large WWI and WWII German helmet collection, and this was in it. When I saw it my heart almost jumped out of my body! I stood at the table holding it for 10 minutes until the dealer got back to his table. It was repurposed for the Third Reich and two decals added, and the tri-color shield was painted over (you can see a tiny red dot peeking out from the paint). Anyway, I bought it because I've always wanted an M-18 cutout. It must have been stored in a damp basement, open side down where moisture collected, because there is more oxidation there and the paint has peeled. I'd appreciate any thoughts.
Charlie
 
The helmet looks ok with the flare above the cut outs etc, are there any visible stamps inside? It should have ET.64 stamped in the left side of the helmet. There should also be a batch stamp some where inside the shell. There were a lot of copies made of these helmets as im sure your aware. A correct m18 should have the ET.64 stamp. There are a lot of collectors who simply wont accept it as genuine without the stamp. Fingers crossed [-o<

Some nice pics here http://www.isonzo-gruppodiricercastorica.it/doku.php/stahlhelm_1918

and here http://www.cascoscoleccion.com/alemania/al16c.htm

Andy
 
I have a copy of one of these and this one doesn't look like it (the visor is correct on this as is the ear flare... mentioned above). Looking at the decal, I'd think perhaps this was added by a 'hobbyist', because of the thick paint under it. Repaints / reconditioned helmets from WWI were stripped before being painted, so seeing more than one layer of paint under the decal wouldn't be right... unless I'm looking at it wrong.

I'd leave this as is. Very 'salty' and interesting. 'Bielefeld' on the chinstrap. We'll be in Guetersloh this summer... just south of there. Bielefeld must have been an important city in NRW, I've a helmet from there (Beamte Pickelhaube).

:D Ron
 
Love those helmets!
I had one in my primary collection 30 years ago, and was able to get a other one when I started my new collection nearly 4 years ago.
I know better can be found, but I was in to collecting relics for many reasons! ;-)
cheers
|<ris
m18028.jpg
 
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