Don't worry about hurting my feelings..
Cubicle dwelling techno-dweeb looking for more back-to basics skills, piecing together a forge to do some blades, small hardware, etc. I just bought this Anvil, my first, after searching for a couple of years and finding nothing-nothing I could afford anyway. The guy I bought it from is not a smith but a tool collector, had a ton of old tools and about a dozen anvils.
He said it was Hay-Budden, but now that I look for the marks, I don't see them. It has 141 pretty clearly stamped on one side, and 097 up by the heel. Serial number may be 4365 or 4355, or maybe something else entirely.
My main concern is the what I guess are chisel marks and 1. if they will affect my work and 2, if it means the top has lost its hardness. He said I could grind them off with flap disk. The top is sagged in the middle about 1/8 inch when looking at with framing square going from end to end. From side to side it is very flat.
I am not real concerned about the edge chips at this point.
It has a nice bounce and a nice clear ring, except for the ring when tapping way back on the heel sounds sort of distorted, but it is not strapped down at this point. I hope that does not indicate a crack somewhere.
The white stuff is flour as someone suggested to help reading the numbers.
Anyway, I am open to any opinions good or bad, feel free to tell me I got ripped off if that is what you think. The guy seemed to be on the up and up. I was originally thinking to get a slightly smaller anvil with a perfect top but it sounded dead.
Thanks, Rick