Reichswehr Helmet M16, legitimate?

[ShapedSteel]

Hello everyone,

It's been a long time since I posted here. In the meantime, I have acquired some very rare and interesting helmet configurations that have never been posted on here before. I'm looking forward to making detailed posts about them and uploading them here for you guys.
But for today I have a question about this helmet, is it a legit Reichswehr WW1 Stahlhelm and is it worth 1000 Euros? I know that normally qeustions about prices are avoided but I'm really curious if it would be better to wait for a cheaper one to come along or if this is a good deal for these? The seller lives quite far away and I would greatly apperciate some extra opinions on this helmet before I make the journey there.

It's good to be back and thank you to everyone in advance for helping me out.

Cheers,
Lucas

[AndyM35]

Hi Lucas,

The helmet and liner appear to be fine as a WW1 Imperial German steel helmet, however it’s always hard to tell when exactly a hand painted shield was applied. The shield looks more like a WW1 machine gun regiment shield and they all appear to vary. Personally, I would only pay for this as a regular German WW1 helmet.

Andy

[AndyM35]

Just to add to what I have said above, Ludwig Baer wrote that in general WW1 German steel helmets generally wore no insignia, aside from the Hohenzollern crest. And there has also been some suggestion that these types of symbols are vet art as there does not appear to be any period photos to confirm application of such a hand painted shield during the war.

[SimonSorenKam]

This type of "Decal" is common with fakes. Here's one I ran into at the civil war show back in April and it was stated as "authentic". Yeah myriads of wrong with this helmet!

[MAP]

Hi Lucas,

The helmet and liner appear to be fine as a WW1 Imperial German steel helmet, however it’s always hard to tell when exactly a hand painted shield was applied. The shield looks more like a WW1 machine gun regiment shield and they all appear to vary. Personally, I would only pay for this as a regular German WW1 helmet.

Andy

Agree with Andy, this is a copy of the sleeve patch worn by Machine gun regiments.

[ShapedSteel]

Thank you guys for the replies. The seller has this image attached, thoughts?

[MAP]

Thank you guys for the replies. The seller has this image attached, thoughts?

I've seen this photo before. I think it is attributed to Reichswehr but not sure.

These helmets do exist, but most out there are fake.

[GlennAgain]

The Blue & White bordering indicate a Bavarian Unit... Weimar-Era Reichswehr most likely...