Got a line on an anvil locally after months of searching. Haven't had a chance to look yet, but have a couple of photos. I was hoping someone here might be able to help me identify it.

 

On the side is the following:

 

A inset diamond, with a raised "W" in the center

Below that a raised "AN"

Below that a raised "200"

 

Looks to my untrained eye to be a london pattern anvil, and I assume the raised letters indicate the base at least is cast, and its 200lbs. Anyone know the diamond W?

 

Also, once identified, what's it worth if its in good shape?

 

Thanks all...

I only posted this after a couple hours of searching here and over the rest of the internet... no luck so far!

If you don't have an Anvil and you can find one that is 200 lbs.   WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??

 

Neil

Waiting for morning... people get suspicious when I go rooting around their place at midnight. ;)

 

What do you think a fair price is Neil?

The larger anvils were rarely garbage so I think you can buy with confidence. 

 

The horn and face look to be in immaculate condition, with no chisel marks or chipping.  

 

If the weight is over 150#, I wouldn't hesitate to offer a dollar a pound.  If large anvils are hard to come by in your area, you really need to think about how long it will be before another one in this condition pops up on the market.  My big Fisher cost me just a bit over $2/lb, including shipping, and I thought that was a great deal considering that you just do not see large anvils for sale in my area, and you never see large Fisher anvils for sale in my area.

 

If you're in a similar boat, I would consider anything under $3/lb a good deal.  Definitely worth it considering the condition of the anvil's horn and face plate as shown in the pictures.

Went and looked at it this morning and it followed me home. :) Got it for $2.55 a pound. Rings ok, rebound is 60-70% with the steel ball test. More to come! I would really like to know more about the make and age...

Great news!  60% rebound is very good so don't fret.  For less than $3/lb, you got a very good deal.  Does it look as good in person as in the pics?

 

Very happy for you.

Thanks VaughnT. It probably isn't quite as clean as the pic made it look, it's been used. A couple gouges in the face, and more than a few stray hammer blows on the edges. At some point it looked like someone was doing some torch cutting next to it, as its got a 1/2" section at the rear that look like oxy-acetylene cut marks. All in all, its pretty darn decent overall. Better and heavier than I hoped to find.

 

I'll take some better photos soon and post them up. Time to start designing a forge. ;)

Took some more photos today showing general overall condition.

Took some more photos today showing general overall condition.

I'd say you got a sweet deal!!

Obviously a good quality cast steel anvil. Postman mentions very briefly West Anvils in his book AIA and shows several different logos they put on the side of theirs, unfortunately your's isn't one of those.. 

He really didn't know much about them other than they are Vanadium steel and had only seen very few. Its possible that your's is a West. Besides Colombian, Milne, and the Swedes, there probably weren't many other manufacturer's capable of casting such a large anvil.

Not much out there on these anvils... I did find this however:

 

"The only references to West anvils that Richard Postman (author of Anvils in America) ever found was printed in the early 30's. That reference stated that they were cast from vanadium steel. That being said, noone really knows how long and what years West made anvils."

 

"Made by West Steel Casting Co. in Cleveland."

 

Found another West anvil posted, logo is different but the font the "W" is in is practically identical. A pretty weak link though.

 

Some more info here: http://www.genealogybug.net/oh_biographies/west.shtml

A little bit of an update, did some work on the stand a while back, knee deep in forge building at the moment!

 

The stand is laminated 2x12's, glued and banded. The anvil is siliconed and chained down, with a turnbuckle on one side to get the chain nice and snug.