My 120lb Acme anvil. Made by Trenton, stamped Acme and sold by sears back in the day. Serial # 111452 made in 1912.
http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u59/agaspard/

Where do you guys find the age on the anvil? Is there a book I should buy, or is there a formula for figuring from the serial number. I have a Trenton that has 175 on the left front and 18674 on the right, could someone tell me how old it is?

The book 'Anvils In America' by Richard Postman is the most commonly used book for determining the age of some brands of anvils. It is a fascinating book that has oodles of information.

For your Trenton, the '175' would be the weight in pounds and the serial number 18674 would indicate your anvil was manufactured in approximately 1900.

I just picked up a Trenton/ACME looks like A74467, tough to tell right now. Also marked 'z' and 150 for150 lbs

Here is my Trenton. It looks to me like an import from what AIA says as there is no number or USA on it anywhere. Plus the bottom is just weird, it is not cast, no Trenton hourglass, it is all wavy and not flat at all. I have spent some time looking other Trentons and I cannot seem to find one with a bottom like mine. The others are all flat with the hourglass shape in them or they resemble a Peter Wright with the four handling holes. I do not know who made mine as the face matches the specs of a PW 4 x 14 ½ and the bottom is well weird. Anyway here it is. There are some markings under the horn but who know when those were made as there are two sets. Paid $125, it is big enough to do what I want to do but small enough to want another one :)

If anybody has any idea why the bottom is shaped like that I would love to know.

My theories are that it was the last one made at the end of shift on Friday and everybody wanted to go home or it was the first one made on Monday morning when they were too hungover to care. Either way they did not have enough metal to finish the base properly and it was classified as a second, then it was stamped with Trenton and sold to Boker.

wow, I think that Richard Postman needs to see that anvil!

That is what I thought, I have his snail mail address I should send him pictures.

Please do; he's a real nice guy and very pleased to help people when they drag anvils over to him at Quad-State---He's the one who identified the *bottom half* of an anvil from my wall of shame using the weight stamping and the ledges on the feet to give it provisional PW status!

400 pounder I travelled 1200 miles to pick up. Serial number 186839.
iPad won't load photos so I will try later.

To add a little bit more to the puzzling mystery presented by wd&mlteach... of the same outsourced manufacturer breed....

 

No handling hole at the stepped feet, horn is stamped with 2 sets of numbers on each side of the shelf, the shown side is #5 the other is #55... Has the solid wrought circle and a little bit of the trenton diamond shows through on the heel... Looks like someone too a belt sander to it and then lightly stamped it again...Base looks interestingly un trenton like as well...

 

 

 

 

I found another anvil on CL last week, the seller advertised that it was 25 inches long and and 10 inches high. It originally listed for $250. I emailed and setup a time to meet just to check it out but I ran out of time and never got a chance last week. Sunday I checked CL against and I noticed the price dropped to $150, so I thought it would be worth a visit. The ad said no markings, which means bring a wire brush and a bottle of water. After a bit of scrubbing and a baptismal it turned out to be a German Trenton anvil marked at 147 pounds. The guys said he really felt bad about the chipped edge. I said that is a shame and asked him what the lowest he would go. He said 100 and I said that seems fare.

It was pitted pretty bad and after a bit with a belt sander enough of it is gone to make it usable. Now I just have to decide which one I should take to school. I have a small anvil there and could an upgrade. But, I also know kids are rough and whatever I take it will never be the same.

I have non identical Trenton twins! About 40 years ago, I acquired a 250# Trenton in good shape. It was my personal anvil for 35 years. About 5 years ago, I located a beat up Trenton in an auto junk yard. It was caked with dirt. When I cleaned it, it turned out to be another 250# Trenton! From the serial numbers, the two anvils were born the same year, 1919. My earlier anvil is 32 5/8" long with a 19 1/2" long face. The 2nd acquired anvil has an overall length of 31 3/8" and the face is 19" long.

 

To each his own, but I sort of like the thin heel, deep step, and slender horn that are part of many Trentons.

 

Sayings and Cornpone

Roses are red

Violets are purple

Sugar is sweet

And so is maple syrple.

     Red Skelton

My latest acquisition- a 175 lb Trenton (farrier pattern) made in 1910

 

                    

                        

Here is my 144# trenton i picked up from a friend. its serial number is A 108327

 

 

mines a 150# Trenton edges are useless so I use my nimba most of the time. and scruffy that's a nice lookin Trenton my serial number on mine is close to yours

According to Anvils in America, this was made in approximately 1912.

Here is my family heirloom. It's a 160lb (150 without the horn) Trenton anvil. It has been in the family before my grandfather was even born. My grandfather said the horn has been broken off as long as he can remember. The first pic is of it with the original hot cut hardie, and hand forged hammer made by my great grandfathers friend. The second pic is of it dress up. The top looked like an old gravel road when I got it. I cleaned the hammer also and made a new handle. It's a 3lb ball peen. I use her all the time. Amazing rebound. Super tough top. Must have been work hardened to crazy limits. I can just barely dent it with a full blow( by accident of course lol).

I just bought an 85# Trenton (no image yet).  can anyone tell me the year? A12529

 

Thanks

According to AIA born in 1900. Pics please.

According to AIA born in 1900. Pics please.

Thank you, I'll get a pic up soon

I bought this trenton several months back. I have been unable to locate a serial number. Scales 308 pounds and has very good rebound

 

Please help identify date this anvil was made.  Thank you in advance.

Edited September 10, 201510 yr by Ethmundo Rosales
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300lbs Trenton made in 1943, I don't think it was used much, I got it from a guy that saved it from being scraped. 

 

Edited September 10, 201510 yr by mlinn77

I picked up a 108# Trenton at an auction the other day. Serial number a79887. Can anyone tell me the date on this? Thanks in advances 

Chris, according to AIA that would be 1908.

To others, it seems that IFI has lost all the pics in this Trenton List thread unfortunately.  The past few years I've been creating a Trenton logo database, the firm used many different logos through their history.  I've been cataloging the different logos and creating serial number ranges for each style of logo.  I'd love to see closeup pictures of your Trenton logo stamp, and a picture of the serial number so I can add it to the list!  Each sample helps fill in the gaps of the database.