January 14, 201412 yr I bought an anvil today, it is a "colonial" period forged anvil. It is marked 1 0 23. I think this means it weighs 123#. I had to drive 20 miles but the anvil was only $85.00. Take a look at the pictures. This is my 7th colonial anvil for the collection. Thanks for looking folks! I also attached a picture of a deer bust I made out of copper.
January 14, 201412 yr I can't help you with the anvil identification but I think the 1 0 23 will convert to 135 lbs. I like the deer bust. Nice work. Ken
January 15, 201412 yr Greetings Brad, Sweet lil anvil... You stole it... Good looking deer bust... Forge on and make beautiful things Jim
January 15, 201412 yr English anvils are traditionally stamped in the CWT system So given W X Y Z The first number W is hundredweights of 112 pounds (or 8 stone) so W * 112 The secon number is Quarter Hundredweights of 28 pounds and should be 0-3 (some "mistakes" have been documented) so X * 28 The last number is the residual pounds and should be 0-27 so YZ for the entire weight of (W*112) + (X*28) + YZ or in your case 1 0 23 112 + 0 + 23 = 135 Note that early anvils were often off their stamped weight by a couple of pounds
January 15, 201412 yr I would love to see the whole collection. I have a real sweet spot for any colonial era iron the old stuff speaks to me.
January 15, 201412 yr It would be amazing to see what type of hot iron has moved on that anvil - great find!
January 17, 201412 yr Author Thank you guys for the nice comments, and Thomas, a special thank you for clearing the weight marks for me. I decided to take a group shot of the pre 1830s anvils for you all, enjoy!
January 17, 201412 yr Author Image 1: 5 unmarked colonial anvils, including a smaller 65# uniquely shaped anvil. Image 2: The two anvils in the foreground are an 1834 William Foster and an 1830s Eveson, the back row is the same.
January 17, 201412 yr A lovely steal. What's with the William Fosters and they're breaking off the heel's or horns? Of the several I've run into offline, I've only seen one unbroken one. Fantastic rebound though. Also, any pics of the "unique shpaed" one?
January 17, 201412 yr Postman told me that they tended to use low grade wrought iron in their construction and so more prone to failures
January 17, 201412 yr I have about 10 colonial anvils in my FISHER museum. Ping me for a visit if you are local to NJ. Or plan on a stop after the Dover conference on Sunday or Monday.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.