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1881 US Shako Helmet Indian Scout


AndyUSMC
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Here is a Model 1881 Shako I recently acquired out of an old collection. It has Indian Scout side buttons and front plate. The plume is orange, which I believe at the time was for Signal Corps? Maybe this one was put together at some point? It is all original. Overall the condition is excellent. I am going to sell it and I woiuld like to find out what a fair value is. I have seen them priced all over the place. Thanks.

post-6988-0-94798600-1510924358_thumb.jpg

 

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I think that is the Cavalry yellow color for the horsehair plume, not orange. That matches the cavalry front plate. Today, most of these 1881 dress helmets seem to have been assembled from readily available parts over the years. Unless there is an iron clad provenance, I would not trust that one. Besides, Indian Scouts would have worn a red and white plume. Signal Corps wore a black plume at that time.

 

Any value is in the individual parts.

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I agree! it looks to be a parts helmet with a cav plume. While the scout insignia is less common that others, doesn't help the value much as one would think. S&S firearms use to sell these parts pretty cheap a dozen years ago or so. The value would seem to lie in the sum of the parts. Im not up on prices so sorry cant help there.

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This one is assembled, as one can assume almost all enlisted M1881 helmets are these days. Anyway, it's as valuable as the sum of its parts, which is less than $300, IMO.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Still--nice parts. If you do sell it, don't part with those side buttons for less than 125, and that helmet body looks great. They used to run $600 for bodies, but now are probably more like 1-200. Your plume socket looks to have been cut (the ball) -- interesting. If I could advise -- I would pick up a pair of cav side buttons, some cord rings, and a set of cords to just make it into a nice cavalry display.

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