Tony,I can accept your reply, $1700 is a bunch of money, and it may be that the price of some of these helmets is too high due to investors. Maybe the fakes will help fill holes in collections of people who have no interest in history and leave the real ones at a more reasonable price for the collectors who are willing to do the research. I guess I have already made a similar decision, regarding Feldgrau Hosen, there are many fakes out there, and some are very good, so I have been reluctant to lay out the bucks to acquire an item that is mostly covered in a display. Recently, a pair of Feldgrau Hosen sold on ebay as original for nearly $800, I do believe that they were original, but the blured marking seemed to be Danish. The point of my rambling is that we are dealing with a market price structure in the collecting field and many cfactors play into it.
Best wishes
Gus