Caeser, I can state with complete certainty as follows: There is absolutely no way to distinguish an original wire helmet from a properly done fake, unless the helmet speaks for itself and the circumstances of your purchase of it attest to its originality. I have two of them. The one I know is original is a helmet I could have bought for $50. It came from a man who found it in his mother's attic when they were moving her out of her house into a retirement home. It was given to her in 1946 when she was maybe 19 by the neighbor who had come back from the war; he fought at St. Lo and told her that's where he got it. They knew nothing about it and when I offered him $300 he laughed and said they were going to throw it away. This was in 1993. However, coming from me that's just a story and most of these have some story.
There are assorted buffoons on various forums who will proclaim that they can tell an original from a fake. Such WAFtards are merely stoking the imaginations of people with more money than sense who need a blessing before they buy something. A good rule on buying "wire helmets" is to pay no more than the underlying helmet plus a small kicker if you feel the helmet is right. Plenty of eurowire is out there and it can be aged with a wire wheel, chemicals, etc., to look as old as someone wants it to. In fact, I've seen people turn their noses up a wire lids I thought original because they didn't look like those that the "experts" deemed original. These people invariably compare fakes to fakes.
Moral to the story: If it strikes your fancy, you feel good about it, buy it, but don't pay much more than the underlying helmet because the market doesn't put a premium on them for the reasons stated.
Regards,
HB[/QUOTE I have been collecting for 50 yrs and have only seen one (1) from a veteran...BILL
HB[/QUOTE I have been collecting for 50 yrs and have only seen one (1) from a veteran...BILL