DESCRIPTION
This restoration was performed on an original paratrooper shell and is an M38 ET71 German paratrooper mid-war single decal helmet with a rear lot number of 5058 placing the factory production date to somewhere around early 1941 according to Brian Ice's lot data book. The 4 liner retaining bolts are the early to mid-war spanner style requiring a special tool to remove and tighten them which were later replaced by an aluminum slotted version that would work with any flat headed screwdriver and so more user friendly.
Well when I first started collecting German helmets sometime back in 2005 one could hunt down an all original WW2 M38 paratrooper (fallschirmjager) helmet without too much difficulty. There seemed to be a lot more websites at the time selling helmets and most of them had at least one M38 on their site or could get their hands on one if you had the budget. Since the pandemic it seems nearly impossible to hunt down a nice paratrooper helmet as I suspect most have been snatched up over the years and find themselves hidden away in private collections around the world never to be seen of again until the next generation inherits them.
The big money for these helmets now seems to be in Europe where collectors just can't seem to find them any longer and so are willing to pay a premium compared to prices we continue to enjoy here in North America. From old screenshots I took back in the day they really have literally doubled in value since 2010 and nearly tripled in Europe from that time. I believe these helmets although pricy continue to represent a rock solid investment in terms of helmet collecting and there are only so many left in the world and given that only 9 paratrooper regiments were formed during WW2 and only 6 were ever active that very few of these were ever even made at the time.
This helmet was originally located from a long time German re-eanctor and was repainted in the correct Luftwaffe textured RAL 7016 (Anthrazitgrau) dark blue gray color in a matte enamel finish. A single factory ET Ader decal was then added and aged to blend in with the rest of the helmet.
The liner is an aged reproduction but very high end and vintage as is the chinstrap in my opinion. Overall it definitely looks the part and is a real shelf Queen!
$5250
Please call, text or email me if interested.
Tel/Text: 1-438-502-5052
Email Us: helmetsofwar@gmail.com
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
