What are your thoughts?

SkipperJohn

SkipperJohn

Well-known member
This looks good to me, but I always question the skull.
The skull is high mounted on a Wappen that has no bandeaux. It is a reserve officer helmet, so perhaps the Wappen is supposed to be the standard reserve type (no bandeaux).
The skull appears to be brass in the photos. Could it have been plated instead of nickel and the plating has worn off?
The underside of the front visor looks black (I've seen this before on Saxon helmets) or raw leather.
Does this look proper?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OFFICIAL-Braunschweig-State-Pickelhaube-Helmet-/263006543980?hash=item3d3c69606c:g:6UcAAOSw5cRZKZNx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

John :?
 
J.LeBrasseur said:
I am not sure, however, he does have it listed in the Reproduction section of WWI

James
Click to expand...

I noticed that, but after looking at it, I wondered if that might be a mistake.

John :?
 
911car said:
An enlisted eagle plate on an officer helmet??!!??
Click to expand...

It appears to be an officers Wappen. The crown is voided and it appears to be gilded. I have no idea what the reserve Wappen should look like for Braunschweig officers. The only reference that I can find is the reserve/Landwehr chart in Colonel J's website.

I did notice that the Kokarden are reversed (on the wrong sides).

John :(
 
911car said:
Sorry, I was of course referring to the Totenkopf...
Click to expand...

I searched the forum for an IR 92 officers helmet but couldn't find a photo. What does an officers Totenkopf look like?
These helmets are very popular and; therefore; often faked. I'm curious to know how to distinguish between officers and enlisted Totenkopf.
I noticed that the reserve cross had "Fuerst" instead of "Koenig", which I believe is proper, and this almost sold me.
I have decided to pass on this one.

John :?
 
Here you go, John:
http://pickelhaubes.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10252&p=70471&hilit=testing+my+new+camera" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
911car said:
Here you go, John:
http://pickelhaubes.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10252&p=70471&hilit=testing+my+new+camera" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Click to expand...

WOW! Way different!
Glad I asked.

John :o
 
Bruno ;
Ref ;
Your I R 92 helmet
I might add this from years gone by ;

I know this is an old post
but the black name tag with the fine
print in white ink
I saw these tags years ago in 35 mm color slides
copied for me by the I G helmet collector from
Stockholm , Sweden Jarl Hartze .
Jarl took the photos at the collection of W. Schmidt .
He had these same tags for his helmets .
I think also an American collector friend of mine
Tom Dolan also visited Schmidt and took some
photos , he made a set for me and once again
the black tags in the Schmidt collection.
Appears the I R 92 that you own was once in his collection .
Steve McFarland
 
pickelhauben said:
I have a One Year Volunteer that has the same set up.

The skull is Other Ranks
Click to expand...

I put it back on my watch list.
I really don't know about this one.
It could be good, or it could be a very good fake job.
I noticed that yours has enlisted Kokarden. Maybe that could explain the Totenkopf???

There is one additional telltale that merits mentioning --- it seems to be a pretty good price for an original --- why hasn't it already sold????

John :?
 
Now that I have had more time to research this I have found that several different variations of the Totenkopf existed. I looked at the example on Kaiser's Bunker here:
http://www.kaisersbunker.com/dunkelblau/helmets/dbh78.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
which is a private purchase example of an NCO helmet. The Totenkopf is very similar to the one on the Ebay example.
The Ebay example has officer Kokarden so I researched Randy's book and found two different examples of the officers Totenkopf on pages 150 and 151. Neither of these compare to the Ebay example. There is yet a third type pictured on page 161 of J.A. Bowman's book (I know nobody trusts this book, but there is a photo). There is yet another photo in Stubbs book that shows an example with red eyes. Apparently these were manufactured in numerous variations.

I believe that this Ebay helmet is either an officer's helmet with a retrofitted Wappen, or (in my opinion more likely) a private purchase enlisted helmet retrofitted to look like an officers helmet. I believe this because the Kokarden are reversed indicating that they have been removed and the underside of the front visor is not green, like an officers helmet.

I also looked at the sellers "other items" and found that he has this for sale as well:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ERSATZ-METAL-PICKELHAUBE-/252960780277?hash=item3ae5a32ff5:g:9E8AAOSw5cRZKZRP" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kind of makes you question the originality of this dealers items!

John :(
 
John, there were indeed some variations in the shape of the skull on officer helmets (see also Adler's magnificent example), which, however, always remained totally different from the enlisted model. The helmet you show has all characteristics of a bona fide officer Pickelhaube: stars, Perlring, cockades, spike, eagle... and I do not see how a NCO/OYV/Unteroffizier would have been entitled to wear this. On the other hand, it is even more difficult to imagine an IR92 officer wearing a trooper Totenkopf on his helmet! Adding to this that this hat was certainly dismantled more than once (inverted cockades)... my advice should be to stay away.
And honestly, do you think a real IR92 helmet advertised for less than 1000 bucks would remain unattended for weeks on ebay?...
 
The first things you look for on a rare Wappen like IR92 Mannschaften, is the coloration and the detail. When you see a Wappen that has all those bizarre reddish colours, move on. Original Totenkopf are Neusilber.

As Bruno said, if that was a good one, it would have been sold the day it was listed. I "need" an issued Mannschaften Wappen for my IR92 cases and would have immediately bought that helmet for double the starting price just to get the Wappen. And then tossed the helmet itself as its clearly a parts fabrication. However, there it sits on ebay unsold.

In my opinion, there is no conceivable way an IR92 officer would wear a Mannschaften Wappen. [-X
 
I am no expert but I am always very suspicious when I see these rare helmets on ebay :-k

Regards,

Edwin
 
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