rustyanchor

I think the first number is a 1 as well. That said, in the CWT system the first number is units of 112 pounds, the second number is quarters of 112 pounds (28 pounds), so second number will be 1-3, the third number will be 0-27. Make perfect sense? Those silly old English measures again. I would also bet the anvil was made in England some time after 1830 (It has a pritchel).

So: If your anvil is marked 1-0-18, it should weigh 130 pounds +/- a few pounds.  It looks like it is still very usable, a bit swayed and a few edge chips, but as long as the face plate is still solidly attached and hard, it should have years of life left. Don't grind or try to weld on it, a wire wheel will clean it up just fine.

Good deal,

I like the people on this site and don't want to get a bad rep. You are correct, so many people seem to be looking for a reason to be "offended", so they can play the poor victim on social media. Attention getting at it's finest, I guess.

He wouldn't tell me what he actually wanted for anvil. He Asked me what it was worth, I said $3.00 a pound...He wasn't thrilled with my answer. I was just curious, not trying to buy it. He told me he paid well over my assessed $3.00 a pound. I know sometime later he turned down a $1500. offer. 

Iron dragon,

I am glad. I wrote the post, then I thought about it, and thought it could be taken wrong.

It is a pretty nice anvil though, but I can't see paying that much for way more anvil than I need.  Truth be told, I haven't been in the shop in so long, my anvil may have rusted to dust by now.

Even at 3 bits, depending on the spot price of silver, $0.375 would be a steal...not steel, but silver.

A 90% silver dollar is .77344 oz, a half is .36169, and a quarter is .18084 oz of pure silver, from The Official Red Book, A Guide Book of United States Coins, by RS Yeoman.

So, at $10. oz, a quarter is $1.80 in silver. Older coins, pre 1837, had a higher silver content, but I don't think I would be selling them at bullion value. 

In my former life, Red Book and coin magazines were what AIA and IFI are for me today, but without the internet.

Greebe,

OOPS, I was not trying to put you on the spot.  I wrote my previous post in jest, but some may see it as a call out, that is not at all what I intended, I was trying for humor.

My apologies.

When I was looking thru halves, I would go into a bank and get whatever rolls they had, sort them in the bank and re-roll the 'junk' non silver and sell them right back. (Make sure you mark the rolls so you know you have already looked thru them.)It only cost the face value of anything I collected. I was looking thru the old paper rolled halves, Not sure if they are in plastic rolls now. 

I had a few Ikes that were really edge worn, somebody finally clued me in that they had probably been used heavily in the Vegas slots. Now the casinos have their own dollar size slot tokens since Ikes are no longer minted. Maybe the dollar machines take the SBA or Sacajawea sized dollars now, dunno.

OK, got you a 300lb anvil, HB I think. Not sure exactly how much the seller wants, but it is over $5 a pound. I'll say $3000 will get it to your doorstep.

When do you want it?

On 3/4/2021 at 11:42 AM, ToMang07 said:

I have,  but the closest shop I have found so far that sells them is 5ish hours away,  and shipping is expensive as all xxxx from what I've seen.  If I go that route,  I'll have to save up some more and probably make a road trip out of it. 

If you were looking at a nice car, new or used, would you be willing to do a 5 hour drive, knowing that you would never have to buy another car in your lifetime? If it takes you time to save up for it, so be it. Find an improvised anvil until you have saved up. You may figure out that you can accomplish everything you want to do on an improvised anvil and don't really need a London pattern anvil You may stumble across another anvil you can afford while you are saving up. 

Try using TPAAP, and visit any likely anvil hibernation place. It is easy to look for anvils on the web, and you pay the price for convenience. The anvil you are looking for is sitting in the corner of a barn or garage, or in a junk shop, waiting for you to rescue it. (My first anvil was sitting on a pallet with a forge and hand crank blower at a feed store in NC wearing a horrid coat of yellow paint, I was with a neighbor looking at a fertilizer spreader on a Sunday, when I found a pallet of yellow anvil etc. in front of the fertilizer spreader.)

An anvil can be a 'Buy a good one and never need to replace it' investment. You may want to add more anvils in the future, but you should not be able to wear out an anvil. (Yes you can destroy an anvil, burn it, attack it with a torch, grind thru the hardened face, beat the snot out of it with a big sledge, etc. etc.) Industrial shops, I'm sure, wore anvils out, but hobbyists? With reasonable care, it will be around long after we are gone.

My .02, which is worth every penny you paid for it!

P.S. The Trenton you initially posted looks like one of the early imported Trentons, for what it's worth. Doesn't make it anymore valuable, but an interesting side note. I may be wrong, but I think it, so I say it.

My wife wanted me to take rolls of silver coins to the bank and trade them in for paper money...she had no clue that 40 or 90% silver coins were any more valuable than the change she gets at the store.

I believe she now understands that A quarter may be worth a bit more than twenty five cents.

I used to do the half dollar roll buys, hunting silver, some days it worked out pretty well, I got a few 90% and a fair number of 40% halves. It probably would be worth while to try it again, as the older folks pass on, and their kids just want cash for all the rolled coins in grandpa's stash. 

Chimaera,

I might have an Ike or two if you want. How many are you looking for?

I did not know that. I probably really need to check my supply's dates.

An angle grinder with a twisted wire wheel is a wonderful tool that will eat your lunch, real quick, if you don't pay attention.

18 hours ago, bluerooster said:

No shouldered cartridge!?  Wow!  So a 45-70 would be just fine then.   I like muzzle loaders too.  But Black powder is becoming scarce around here.  I'm not too sure about using pyrodex never having used it before.

I use 777 (Triple 7), it works just fine, I have never used real black powder though.

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

Rusty: You might want to read that first paragraph again, it sounds like you clean wounds with dirt and grime if you're feeling edgy. 

I'd work it into a snappy remark it's a good straight line but I feel it stands on it's own humorous merits.

I am usually too lazy to mess with little cuts and scrapes, so I do end up with dirt and grime rubbed in. Big owies, yea they cleaned up. I cannot go thru the door of the shop without getting cut, scraped, or otherwise banged up. My emergency first aid kit is paper towels and Scotch 33 tape. Duct tape is for amateurs! 

"Peroxide cures all ills", at least according to my mother. I still use it on occasion, usually soap and water or some dirt and grime if I'm feeling edgy...

If I was hunting with a wrist rocket, I would look for some 000 buck sized lead (copper plated of course!) or a little larger steel ball, and some much better tubing. Marbles and wimpy tube work just fine now. As a kid, I launched nuts, bolts, rocks, small fruit, sinkers, bearings, whatever was handy. It was simpler when you didn't have to worry about caliber, case length, bullet type and weight, etc.

9 hours ago, Chimaera said:

Also, in the conversation on slingshots- You could get scrap lead (~$3/lb), melt it, and drip it into a bucket of water. Of course, these won't be as accurate as a perfect metal ball, but I shot pieces of gravel, so...

In this time of environmental awareness, I would be horrified to randomly disperse lead into the environment. The rare and endangered blue tufted pilated broad footed guppy minnow may be harmed...

Actually I have a bag of glass marbles that work for what I use a sling shot for anymore. The afore mentioned blue tufted... is not apparently affected by lead with a copper wash or a bonded copper jacket...WHEW! 

I do appreciate the scrap lead suggestions though.  As much as I use the sling shot It would be cheaper to buy a bunch of steel balls or sinkers than use the propane to melt my own lead for sinkers or ammo. Still have a tackle box of sinkers from when I left FL in 2004.

Sinkers work like a champ, but they cost money. I could scrounge bearing races and get the bearings for free, it was a lot more work to get the bearings out than they were worth, but they were 'free'.

1970's Wham-O Powermaster (wrist rocket), when I was a destructive little monster, I carried it everywhere with me. Ball or roller bearings, or lead sinkers, were my favorite ammo. At the time I was pretty good with it. The surgical tubing seemed to have more stretch and power than the replacement stuff I can get at wally world now.

Would pretty much bet on Trenton. Numbers on the foot should be the weight in pounds and the S/N.

This reply was posted by Frank Turley in 2010 and it pretty much hits the high points. As George said a complete vice, with a good condition screw is a nice deal at $45,

14 hours ago, 92golfdisaster said:

4 year update. The rotor is shallow for a firepot but it works ok for smaller items. 

Try to find a mechanic or shop that works on big pickup trucks, A rotor from an F350/3500 size truck is a dandy size, and can usually be had for free, if you ask. 

Have fun with it, it is a nice looking forge.

BZ to your sister the Baby Chief. Ask her if she learned who Barnacle Bill the Sailor is. Initiation sucked, but there were lessons in the initiation process... Pinned on the 31st of Jan, is she in the reserves?

I picked up Chief in '98 and retired as a W4 in '11, it was a good ride, I would do it over again if I could. I was on surface ships for most of my time, so I did a lot of port visiting-good times!

The stand does have a built up pad welded in the corner of the bent foot, then silicone. I figure I will let the next owner figure out their best solution.

Bent foot and all, I really like that little anvil, It is just pleasant to work on (As much work as I do on it anyway).

Thomas,

Problem is it is bent up. Maybe it hit the ground on the left front foot and bent it up about 1/4 to 3/8". I do not want to pound it back down cold and I don't want want to try to heat it and take the chance of over doing it and messing up the temper. I don't have enough experience or knowledge. So it sits as is.

AIA says 1899. I think the B&H is a post manufacture add on, looks like an older stamping though. The 6/9 marking is probably an inspectors mark.

Sweet looking HB.