DESCRIPTION
This particular helmet came from the estate of a long time military collector out of Davenport, IA whose wife tells me he used to prefer buying from swap meets and yard sales as opposed to military shows as there were few in the area he lived in.
I actually prefer it when a helmet comes fresh out of the woodwork like this that hasn't been strutted around at the shows. Also the fact that it came from a more rural area of America means that it most likely was originally a vet who brought it home with him which is why it ended up at some local swap meet or yard sale and not via some big military show.
This helmet is actually quite interesting because it tells a real story here.
Using a rather powerful police style flashlight I was able to vaguely make out the inside factory stampings of SE66 and rear lot number 4254 meaning that this helmet would have left the factory floor in late 1939.
As some factory blue paint and the presence of the national shield suggests this helmet would have been issued as a double decal Luftwaffe helmet with a square bale aluminum style liner system. At some point during the war after 1940 the helmet was sent back to the factory or some refurbishment depot to to configured in line with 1940 specs. At this point a new layer of textured blue gray paint was added both inside and outside as well as a new liner system and chinstrap. The liner system is definitely very old and has that nice musty Grandpa's sweater smell to it with without ink stampings on any of the fingers that I can make out. Even on the inside dome we see textured paint with any scratches marks whatsoever meaning that no pebbles or foreign objects ever rolled around on the inside making this helmet factory fresh in my view.
During this refurbishment a new LW decal was added as well as a new chinstrap which in this case is your typical LW brown undyed with a rough leather backside similar to what one would find on the toe section of a late war low cut German boot.
I believe this helmet was refurbished and then quickly captured as there is almost no signs of use as if it rolled off the back of a German A3000, 3-ton cargo truck en route to the front.
$1500
Please call, text or email me if interested.
Tel/Text: 1-438-502-5052
Email Us: helmetsofwar@gmail.com
HELMETS OF WAR INC.
PO Box 555
Champlain, NY 12919-0555
Shipping to Anywhere USA/Canada: $22 with full tracking numbers.
Shipping to Europe/UK: $65 with full tracking numbers.
Shipping to Australia/New Zealand: $75 with full tracking numbers.
(Please contact us with any special shipping instructions as I am here to serve and facilitate the shipment.)
GERMAN HELMET FACTORY PRODUCTION CODES
(Every original German helmet produced from 1935 to 45 had two factory stampings punched into the side and rear or both in the rear. The alpha numeric number refers to the factory location and the inside metric circumference in centimeters. The rear lot number refers to the production run and was used as a quality control measure. The font styles used at each factory were slightly different but highly consistent throughout the war and so fakes or reproductions will either not have these numbers at all or they will use the wrong font style or letter spacing and so are easily identified as post war made.)
(FS or EF)-Emaillierwerke AG, Fulda, Germany
(ET or ckl)-Eisenhuttenwerke, Thale, Germany
(Q)-Quist, Esslingen, Germany
(NS)-Vereinigte Deutsche Nikelwerke, Schwerte, Germany
(SE or hkp)-Sachsische Emaillier u. Stanzwerke, Lauter, Germany
