Just picked this anvil up on Craigslist. It was covered in junk and surface rust. A little elbow grease got it cleaned up. I weighed it at about 137lbs. I can't figure out who the manufacturer is. It has a nice ring and a very good bounce back. Please help if you can.

Hmm Farrier anvil(that helps in defining the time frame)- also a very interesting anvil, Are there any other marks on it, like under the horn on the waist? what does the base look like, could you give us a picture of that?

My guess is a Trenton. We'll see if someone who knows agrees.

Here is a picture of the bottom. I have also heard that it might be a Hay Budden manufactured for another company based on the numbers. http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t440/mlisac/138anvil6.jpg

The history of how Trenton got started with the name Trenton, is a little convoluted. In the late 1800's, their anvils may have been made in Germany or England through H. Boker and Company. An 1888 Trenton (New Jersey) catalog shows the "Horse Shoers" pattern with the clip horn and with the elongated lozenge shaped Trenton trademark stamped on the side with "SOLID WROUGHT" stamped below it. The catalog description states, "...made in weights from 120 to 200 lbs., with face 3 1/2 to 4 inches wide. A man named Buel also got involved in the making of the Trentons. About 1901 the anvils were made in Ohio and all of them thenceforward were stamped with the lozenge shaped "TRENTON." So I would tend to agree with "fluidsteel."

Reference Postman, "Anvils in America."

My first thought was that it is a Trenton, and it probably is, however there are a few things that don't follow the typical Trentons. For example Postman indicates that the words "solid Wrought" are in a circle he gives no indication that they were in a straight line on Trentons but some Hay Buddens have had the solid wrought in a straight line,
The small circular stamp does not appear to match the CFI or "Buell Patent" that were found on Trentons but that may be a brand for a hardware company. Further It does have a flat bottom which the first(1898) Columbus Forge and Iron anvils had, and it does have a serial number on the foot in the right location for a Trenton but only the American made Trentons had serial numbers, so its not a German made Trenton. The serial number 3568 does correspond to the 1898 dates of manufacture for Trenton anvils.
The reason I asked about other marks, like under the horn, is that Hay Buddens have a number stamped along the waist under the horn, so if there isn't one there then its not an HB.
If it is a Trenton then it would have to be made in 1898 and is one of the very first made by CFI. All that being said and as Postman indicates there were a number of other manufacture's of anvils that came and went, so it could also be made by one of the others. However, my guess like the others is that it is a Trenton.
If you could chalk the sides some other distinguishing marks may show up.

Sometimes it comes down to all you can say is "It's a good one!" and that one *is*.

I have a 410# anvil that lived a hard life at a copper mine and was finally "restored" at an anvil repair clinic that I believe is a trenton but have no "solid" proof. (and have not hauled it 1500 miles each way to Q-S to get Postman's educated opinion on it for some reason...)

Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate y'all's time.