WWII ORIGINAL GERMAN TRANSITIONAL M17 ELITE FORCES HELMET XTR. DESCRIPTION: Offered to you is this original German WW2 Extremely Rare transitional M17 transitional Elite Forces helmet. The helmet comes with M31 leather liner with three cork spacers on the head band. It has remnants of the original black leather chinstrap including the quick release carabiner buckle typical for these helmets. These helmets were only issued to Elite Forces until the 1935 models were introduced.
However, the M17 remained in use throughout the war as seen on period photos. This is not the more common M16 or M18 helmet, slightly different shape, different rivets placement and other minor interior changes.
The helmet has the name Zigfird writtenin graffiti on the liner. What is even more interesting about this particular helmet is that apparently it was captured or most likely belonged to a defector who flipped sides and fought for the Russians. The name Zigfrid is also written in Cyrillic and there is a red star on the forehead. This makes this helmet one of a kind with a lot of historical value appealing to serious collectors or museums. The inside retains about 90% of its original paint and the outside has about 40% of it remaining. Scarce and highly collectable item. NOTE: This item does not have and never had any banned or offensive symbols on it.German WWII items were destroyed at a great scale after the war by all participating countries. Most of our items come in original, boxed and unused condition since the war. Most of the German military and medical items that we own and currently sell are among the only left of its kind in the world. Our stock is limited and like every good thing will soon come to an end, so take advantage of this opportunity to own authentic German WWII items. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
They are in no way advertised, recommended or authorized to be used as medical equipment today. TERMS OF SALE: - All items are guaranteed genuine and as described. The item "WWII ORIGINAL GERMAN TRANSITIONAL M17 ELITE FORCES HELMET XTR. RARE" is in sale since Friday, February 21, 2014. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Militaria\WW II (1939-45)\Original Period Items\Germany\Personal, Field Gear". The seller is "globalantiques" and is located in European Union. This item can be shipped to North, South, or Latin America, all countries in continental Asia, United Kingdom, Australia.