Fisher anvil conundrum

[mike-hr]

A new student scored 2 anvils last weekend, one of them is a little Fisher, with a few features that's got me puzzled. It weighs 20 or so pounds, by my right arm reckoning.
- It has a legible '2' cast into the base lip under the heel
- It has a big '4' cast under the bick, in the curve of the waist
- It has an eagle cast into the near side, bick to the left
- Underneath it has two round casting divots, approx the size of beer can bottoms (riser, sprue?)
- Here's the strange part, under the bick, on the base lip, 'FISHER' is cast in, but in mirror image..REHSIF, but with backwards letters.
- The edges are beat up bad, but I can almost make out a 1/4" to 5/16" thick plate on the top. It has approx 60% rebound with a 1 inch ball bearing at 15 inches drop. At first I suspected someone recast this thing, using a real fisher as a pattern, but the rebound suggests it does have a tool steel top.

any hints?
Thanks, Mike

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Someone goofed up when they put the nameplate onto the pattern. I have seen this with modern day products from foreign countries, some things get backwards some times.

[Sask Mark]

I would think that based on the small size and the backwards 'FISHER', that anvil might be worth quite a few dollars to some collectors. Too bad it is beat up.

[ThomasPowers]

Sounds like a great one to add to the Fisher Museum in NJ; wonder if he would trade a larger Fisher for it.

[njanvilman]

The story goes that the moldmakers "enjoyed" at touch of grape at lunchtime. Afternoon anvil molds were sometimes a bit "different". This happened a number of times. I have anvils with the FISHER backwards, upside-down, and even the eagle upside-down(looks dead).

Pictures would be a plus. PM me if you are looking to trade or sell. Thanks.

[mike-hr]

Thanks for the replies, I never would have guessed that. I did take some pictures of it, but haven't been able to figure out how to post them since the IFI gallery slumped. I could e-mail pics to someone who can post them here, if someone wants to message me with an e-mail address.
mike

[Glenn]

haven't been able to figure out how to post them since the IFI gallery slumped.

Mike, Make your post as normal then scroll down and click on "click to attach files", Browse your hard drive, highlight, click open and repeat as needed for more photos. You MUST click add reply to save both the text and the images when you finish.

[mike-hr]

Thanks Glenn, here goes..

[mike-hr]

Trying another pic

[mike-hr]

Trying again

[mike-hr]

The second pic loads, but won't show up. I'll try once more, then call it a night.

[Fe-Wood]

Oh, they did that so when you look at how cool (and worn) the anvil is in a mirror, you know what your looking at

The pattern maker was lysdecsik¿

[Dragons lair]

Yeh heard things like that from an old GM hand. Mon tues getting over thr weekend.
Wed great. Thurs Fri party early. Can't remember the code for Wed.
Ken

[Chris Waldon]

I know that this topic is old and dead, but nonetheless, judging from the scale of the pictures and my own 20lb anvil, that thing weighs a great deal closer to 50lbs.

[njanvilman]

The 4 on the front base indicates it is about a 40 lb anvil, not 20 lbs.