Rare Wartime Prussian Kurassier Ersatz Pickelhaube

An exceptional untouched example of a truly rare helmet: a rare wartime Prussian Kurassier ersatz Pickelhaube. The entire helmet body is made of a sheet of lightweight stamped steel. There is a “spike base” with false rivets but the base, like the “scales” on the rear skirt of the helmet, are an illusion; while they give the appearance of being separate parts, they are in fact all part of the stamped body of the helmet. The entire helmet, as well as the Prussian eagle helmet plate, have a gray/green wartime finish. The leather chinstrap is present, as are the large cockades.
The leather liner is intact, although the drawstring is missing. There is some minor loss of the field gray paint on the spike and the spike base.
There are additional interesting aspects to this helmet, such as the fact that there is German newspaper from 1917 still underneath the liner, presumably placed there by the original owner of the helmet to either adjust the size, or to provide added padding, or both. There is also an old handwritten note with the helmet which reads:
“Great Uncle Harry Bader was Lt. in Army WWI in France & Germany when they signed the Armistice! Picked up this German NCO’s parade helmet, very careful, has 1917 German news paper under headliner. Don’t loose [sic]!”.

A truly rare helmet in absolutely wonderful condition, with splendid provenance.