The Budapest is yet another gorgeous Late Roman helmet found in 1898 beneath the Elisabeth Bridge on the left bank of the Danube (in the area of the Diocletian bridgehead fort of Contra Aquincum) in a layer of gravel sand approximately 3.5 - 3.8m below the water level of the river, near Budapest, Hungary.

Referred to variously as a band helmet or ridge helmet of the Berkasovo type (and by Christian Miks as Deurne/Berkasovo variant 2b) the Budapest was unearthed as a heavily damaged piece of iron-core (with a thickness of 1.2-1.5mm). The helmet bowl, band, cheek pieces and ridge are, as with the Berkasovo I, heavily embossed with animal motifs, S-hook shapes and other geometric designs. This adornment likely marks the helmet as suitable for a high-ranking officer in the Late Roman Army.

As with all Late Roman helmets, the Budapest's bowl was coated with a gilded silver sheet (with a thickness of 0.2-0.3mm or up to 0.5mm in the edge area) and as with the Berkasovo I a set of imitation gemstones made of glass to further add decoration to this already impressive helmet.

As can be seen in the images, the nasal and neck guard are not preserved on the original (although traces of the nasal attachment can still be seen on the brow band).

In keeping with the Berkasovo 2 style, the helmet construction is a two-part dome with a central ridge, albeit a smaller joining ridge rather than a raised ridge as seen on the more common Intercissa type helmets.

The later reconstructions post-20000 incorporated the browband with eyebrows and two parallel horizontal ribs above the ears.

The true curiosity of this helmet however are the upward-pointing silver buckles on the ridge and one on each bowl half which it is speculated (and indeed highly likely) can be used to attach a crest, as seen in the reconstruction owned by group member Matthew Richardson (made by the Pustelak Brothers Workshop).