Black Frog

Hay Budden was/is considered one of the best anvils ever made. But they were not in business in 1879. They started production in 1892. Late 1800's anvils were roughly $0.08 to $0.11 per pound, that varied on manufacturer and weight.

There was no leftover stock, Boker anvils were built up forging, and the built up forged early Columbus anvils are similar, but different.

You have a "BLACKJACK" branded Hay-Budden anvil. It was stamped for the J.E. Pilcher hardware company in St. Louis. Unfortunately more than half of the anvil's hardened faceplate appears to have broken off. The serial number on the front foot looks to be possibly a 5-digit number, maybe starting with a "3".... if so, that would be the 1897 ballpark according to Anvils In America. Here's a better version of your stamp:

....some of that statement is not true. The very early Columbus, Ohio Trentons had flats on the feet and forged bases, very similar to the German Trentons. This was before they switched to the first style of cast base.

I believe the circular "SOLID WROUGHT" as well as the flats on the feet were an attempt to imitate some features of world's best selling anvil at the time- Peter Wright. Some German Trentons had the "PATENT" stamp on them too, just like PW. I have seen a few oddly-oriented vertical stamps of GERMANY between the feet on some early German Trentons as well. Not sure there is a good indication for organizing them into which came first, I've recorded some with SOLID WROUGHT in two lines also with the GERMANY stamp. I've seen at least three different styles of the SOLID WROUGHT two-line stamp too. There's "GERMANY" and "MADE IN GERMANY" stamps on early Trentons. There are several different version of the German Trenton logo stamp I've recorded. And I've also see some very different proportions and forging styles of German Trentons. Makes me wonder if there was more than one shop forging them..... Since the German Trentons did not have any serial numbers, pretty tough at the moment to figure which came first, and also why I've been concentrating on organizing the Columbus Trentons (and A&H's) by logo style. Serial numbers makes for a convenient way to look back through their history and all the different logo styles they used during production.

The Boker anvils have some general similarities, but are still noticeably different than PW's. The proportions and forging style are not the same. Many of the Boker's are marked with the "GERMANY" stamp. This would no be the case if PW was making them. This SDK shown is the same as the early German Trentons. Just a different stamp on it.

That is incorrect. Very early Kimbark's were made by Boker in Germany, same as an early German Trenton.

Wilkinson anvil

I've seen the "Hardwear" anvil a few times, with the 1-1/2 on the side, I'm assuming that's cwt for around 168 pounds. That close?

This has been at Quad State the last couple of years.

Fantastic, thank you! That is the 4th style of logo stamp that A&H used in production.

Can you post a closeup of the logo stamp? I'd like to add it to the logo database.

Fantastic, thanks for the pics! That is the 2nd style of logo stamp that A&H used in production. And that is the first time I've seen an upside down arm logo on an A&H anvil. Cool!

Can you post a picture of the side logo stamp, and the serial number? I'd like to add it to the A&H logo database.

Appears you have a Phoenix hardware brand. Can you please take a closeup of the side logo stamp?

Could we get a closeup of the side logo stamp, and another of the serial number? I'm keeping a database of Trenton logos and would like to add this one. Thanks!

Most likely Trenton, please post a closeup of the side other side of the anvil, the side with horn facing right. Sometimes there are faint logo markings remaining if you know what you're looking for.

Early Brooks were forged.

Perfect, thank you! That is the third style of U.S.-based logo stamps that Trenton used in production. A.I.A. indicates 1914.

I'd like to record it for the Trenton logo database if possible. The "...TON" is usually enough to identify which style logo it was.

Can you post a picture of the side logo stamp?

this is a Trenton Black Prince anvil.

Is the 132 on the front foot? Trenton also made Black Prince anvils. If you tip it over and take a picture of the underside that will give more details.

Before 1898

No serial number. It is a German-made Trenton.