Many collectors buy officer helmets....they are prettier, more fancy with gilt stars, wappen and chin scales, silk liners and command higher prices which is all well and good.
However, there are no markings/ink stamps on these helmets as they were bought by the officer not by the German government. .As private purchase items, they have no markings other than a size (cm), an officer name perhaps or rarely a "royal" cypher affixed on to the silk liner. These provide very little "provenance" for the collector as especially with the Prussian helmets, you could stick any rare regimental wappen on it providing it fits....and even then holes can be enlarged. There were no grommets in the wappen holes of officer helmets so this was an easy fix for the retailer even back in the 1880's or whenever. We are in the year 2024 and I believe that most of us are savvy to the wiles of retailers....."shrinkflation" for example
it was no different at the turn of the century in 1900.
Consequently, I prefer to spend my money on well marked OR's helmets where there can be no doubt as to provenance because the markings match the helmet plate. "To each his own" B
