PRUSSIAN POST 1897 STYLE SPIKED HELMET EAGLE TSCHAKO PLATE
				Pictured left is a full frontal view of the post 1897 pattern Imperial Prussian tschako eagle plate. While unattached at this time, this item would normally be mounted on the front of a pre World War I era Prussian enlisted man's helmet.
				Constructed out of an excellent quality brass, the eagle is five and one quarter (5 1/4" wide (at its widest point) by four and three quarter inches (4 3/4" tall) at its highest point. While it has taken on a dep patina from age, the item is fully intact and could be immediately mounted on a helmet from the period with little or no difficulty.
				While not visible in this photo, the eagle has a curved or concave shape indicating that it had probably been previously mounted on a helmet at some point in its history. Similarly demonstrated in this photo is the heavy patina on the high points and edges of this shako plate, which is consistent with it being approximately one hundred years in age.
				The photo to the left is a slight enlargement of the center portion of the eagle and better demonstrates the deep coloration of the brass surface, as well as the excellent detail work found in the eagle's head and feathers. The crown on the eagle is of a one piece design, without any "see through" breaks or spaces commonly associated by many collectors with private purchase eagles.
				To that end, this item complies in all ways with the published Prussian army specification applicable to the purchase and issue of helmet eagle plates to enlisted personel. In short, this is most probably a government purchased and issued enlisted man's helmet eagle.
				As noted above, many collectors have adopted the false standard that a solid crown "always" means that a particular tschako eagle was a government issued item, while, conversely, an eagle with an open spaced crown is always a private purchase item.Unfortunately, this convenient theory fails to take into account a number of common sense and practical real world realities.
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