Good afternoon All-
I stopped at a yard sale this afternoon and picked up an anvil that is very curious.It is only marked as you can see in the pictures "PHOENIX M,S, & S, Warrented" There is a weight under the logo of 149 which you can barely see in the pictures I have Postman's book AIA and it is not listed according to the features. It is 148lbs on my scale with a face 4 1/8 x15 and a 10in horn. It has a serial number on the right foot 531XX.(can't read the last 2 numbers. It has a flat base with a slight lip all the way around the bottom. It also has the number 6 deeply embedded in the waist under the left side of the horn. Postman states " To my knowledge only Hay Budden Manufacturing Company used this number on the waist" Postman also indicates that he encountered a Trenton anvil marked Phoenix with a 1904 date. To me this anvil resembles more the very early HBs in shape, that is its very similar to my early 200 lb HB (1895 vintage). My early 200lb HB's features do not correspond at all to the catalogues of the later years after 1908 and the Phoenix are slightly different also. There is no other HB markings that I can find.

So to all of you who are more knowledgeable than me about anvils, what do you think? Have you ever encountered such markings?

By the way, the anvil is in excellent condition with a great ring and rebound.

What does the bottom look like? Does it have the HB hourglass or a caplet indentation or?

Hi Thomas-
Thanks for asking a good question It has a flat bottom with a lip around the edge which is identical to my 200lb (1895 dated) HB. The one with the yellow paint spot is the Phoenix the other is my 200lb.

on my HB the rim is nearly worn flat but you can just barely see it, according to Postman the more recent ones had a more substantial rim that is rarely worn away.

Anyway I'm betting HB!

Thanks Thomas-
Postman seemed to say he was only listing the anvils that he knew of that were marked for others by HB in his book, he left it open that there were others. There are just too many similarities to
the HB's to say it is is something else. I was sort of hoping someone had also stumbled on a Phoenix marked anvil and could provide some more clues. Anyhwo it is a really nice anvil and a real keeper.

how much did you pay for that beauty! if you're comfortable telling of course.

I would say that the number stamped into the waist under the horn and to one side or another of the handling hole, tells us that it is a Hay-Budden. I have recently acquired a 300# anvil with no markings save a number in that place. I consider mine to be a Hay-Budden.

how much did you pay for that beauty! if you're comfortable telling of course.

$100.

gnashing of teeth---can you hear it up there?

I don't mean to cause such gnashing but the anvil that its sitting on is the 200lb Hay Budden I picked up at the scrap yard for $1/lb. Its in good condition too,good face and the best rebound on any of my anvils. BTW I use the ThomasPowers method of locating/buying anvils. I payed too much for my first HB and OK for my second, but since becoming a convert have managed to stay at or under $1/lb.

It works! We've had several people go from "there are no anvils around here!" to "what do I do with all these anvils I've found?" using that technique.

Finding good anvils at great prices is a lot harder in NM than back in the blacksmiths happy hunting ground---Ohio; of course I'm not hunting them as hard either as I really am pretty well anviled up these days.

Now I just need to use it to find another job as this one's running out!

what is thomas power's method?

what is thomas power's method?

I believe the method is ask everyone and anyone if they have one for sale or know of one available.

Yup that's it, the lady standing in line at the supermarket might just know of her Uncle's anvil sitting in a garage or basement. I was given an anvil from a retired rancher having mentioned in church I was hunting one for the local community college's fine arts metals instructor.

Usually far better prices finding an anvil just cluttering up the place that folks are happy to get out of the way then one people are *trying* to sell for a profit!

My disreputable red hat is an essential key to finding anvils as *many* people remark on it which leads to "It's my blacksmithing hat, real wool felt so it doesn't catch fire or melt..." which leads to talking about blacksmithing which leads to me remarking that I'm always hunting for tools and stuff for the students I teach which leads to heavy rusty metal being piled in my truck at quite reasonable rates! Which I pass on to students...