Thanks everyone.
You've all been extremely helpful and pretty much confirmed what I thought.
The seller is a 'friend of a friend' and the last thing I want to do is to offend him in any way with a stupid offer. I have handled the hat myself and it certainly seems genuine. One thing in my favour is that he is principally an Army collector (all from the Napoleonic period or early-19th century) and has no particular interest in the Royal Marines. He is selling it because he wants to purchase another piece for his collection - which, although not vast (as everyone points out these items are RARE), is still impressive. He has owned the hat for many years and it was actually one of the first items he purchased. He has also told me where he purchased it from and that also supports its authenticity.
He has asked me to make him an offer and negotiations will start from there so I just wanted to confirm what I suspected about the price. I'll make him an offer and see how he reacts to it. I certainly think I'll need to break open the piggy bank for this one!
Thanks again for your help.
Pete
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'It is upon the Navy, under the good providence of God, that the Wealth, Prosperity and Peace of these islands and of the Empire do mainly depend' - Preamble to the Articles of War in the reign of Charles II
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