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Maybe Sailing Into The Helmet Minefield - Looking For Opinions


Old Crow 1986
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Old Crow 1986

I'm heading off to an estate sale tomorrow.  I'm looking to get a small USAAF shadowbox grouping featured in the online ad.  This is the type of item that I consider to be in my collecting lane.

 

However, the ad prominently features, "...WWI, WWII and Vietnam are well represented with military helmets from each campaign...."

 

In my year plus collecting experience and as a USMF member I've learned quite a bit about helmets.  Not that it's all that big an achievement, I knew nothing this time last year.  However, lesson number one is - helmets are a minefield.  But I'd hate to go to what I consider to be a legitimate sale (no inflated/unlikely provenance claims, no found in a French barn claims) and pass on an interesting or collectable piece because I was unprepared or just plain gutless.

 

 

These helmets do look legitimate to my very inexperienced eye.  That is, they look period correct.  As the ad states - WWI through Vietnam are represented.  But I'm hoping that the forum will take a look at the attached pictures and let me know if their worth a gamble of $25-30 each or if I should just back up, retracing my steps, and egress the minefield.

 

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DISCLOSURE STATEMENT - I'm not looking to win the lottery here.  I'm just looking to build some collector's karama.  Hoping to find pieces that a helmet collector may want and then the next time they find a 8th, 9th, 12th or 15th AF piece they remember "...that helmet noob..." who did them a favor one time. 

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I’d say they are worth that the liners maybe 10-15 they probably are Korean War era. I would say yes they are worth that 15-30 range

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Not enough info in the pictures to give much of an assessment.

 

The helmet cover is a "mitchell pattern" meaning VN era or later.  

The liner with the Sargent's stripes looks to be Korea era use based on the darker / browner paint.

 

Need to see the inside of the liners, and shells to say any more.  What condition are the inside of the liners in?  What color webbing will indicate the approximate age of mfg (OD#3 "khaki" is ww2, or OD#7 "olive drab" is post ww2). And the loops that connect the chinstraps to the shells, are they fixed (non-movable welded, early to mid ww2) or swivel (movable, late ww2 to post war).  Do the shells have chinstraps?  What color are they, and are they sewn on (ww2), held on by metal clips (Korea - VN), or  held on by removable clips (post VN)?

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I like them and if I ran across them at a sale I would pop the $30 each.  There is a range of eras there, and as long as the webbing is intact inside I'd jump on them.

 

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My rule of thumb is that I will not pass up a complete M1 with liner for $25. In other words, you can’t go wrong at that price. 
If you know about seam locations, bales,  and chinstrap types, you should be able to estimate the age of the helmets. 

Chinstrap time line; sewn on OD#3 khaki 1941-45, sewn on OD#7 1945-51, green buckles 1951-1960, black buckles 1961-73, clip on angled 1973-1984

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BILL THE PATCH

No braineR, buy them for 25-30 or a little more. I wouldn't pass them up at that price.

Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

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dhcoleterracina

With an estate sale you'd think that these were family items being sold. They look however like the previous owner was a collector so this will probably be a mix of good and bad. 

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Old Crow 1986

Went to the estate sale this morning.  Each liner and each helmet was tagged at $50 apiece.  So, no sale.  

 

I had armed myself with the attached M1 liner ID flowchart.  It was posted by a forum member and resides in my "Uniform References" file on my phone.  Unfortunately I downloaded it months back and I don't recall the author's identity...it may have been MattS, but I'm not certain.  In any event, I would like to thank and acknowledge them, even if I cannot recall their name.

 

I'd also like to thank the forum members who responded to this post.  I appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge and experience.  With my limited experience I may have overspent on a gamble (my term) find, but you folks pulled me back from the edge.

 

BTW - The USAAF shadowbox that drew to to the sale in the first place was nothing but the filler picture that comes with the shadowbox.  What I mean is, you know that picture of the anonymous but photogenic, stock photo, couple that comes with the frame and you replace with your family's picture?  Yeah, it was a stock photo of a pilot sitting in an aircraft, next to a stock photo DFC, next to stock photo set of wings.   Well, at least I got a good laugh out of that one in addition to a crash course in M1 field spotting.

 

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Wow. So they posted false items to draw people to the auction? Photos of AAF wings and a DFC but nothing like that there? That's rude.

Glad you had a positive experience.

Dave

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Old Crow, one thing is certain:  You’ll have other opportunities soon.  Wait till you see a situation that makes you comfortable.

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I hate when people sell liners and helmets separately- almost as bad as when they mix them up and then won't let you "put it right".  that 1st liner shown did look promising to me though...

any liner left in the WW1?

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