Hey guys, I found a rather unique looking anvil for sale on kijiji (Canadian Craigslist). I'm not sure what it's made of or what it's specifically used for but the fellow says it has good rebound and that its very old. Has anyone seen anything like this before? Would it be as useful as a regular anvil? It's posted for 200$ Is that a fair price? Thanks!

Does not look extremely old to me unless someone has butchered them cleaning up the faces.  I would not think is was as useful as a london pattern anvil as the mass is not shared and all the features of a london pattern anvil are not present.  I would do a ball bearing test on them.  Looks to be a special process custom set up and so may not be all that handy for other processes.

I like it, it will get the job done. You won't find a good anvil for that price. You might need a bottom fuller to make it complete though.

$200?   I;d jump on that for that price

Not a london pattern, and as TP points out not all that old, at first blush I think its some ones demo anvil for a pre london pattern reenactment, or with the square hole a special process set up as TP suggests

still, $200 isn't bad for the amount od work that went into it, and yoi can get out of it

Certainly worth the price, if it all comes as a set.  It looks to me like someone used modern steel to create a set-up that looks like something from medieval times.  I've been wanting to do something similar as a stand-alone nail making station.

Is it usable?  Absolutely.  You need to remember that vikings were using similarly sized anvils, or granite boulders, for their anvils, and they were able to create some truly wonderful ironwork.  If you apply yourself and have patience, there's absolutely no reason you couldn't duplicate the quality of olden times.

If you're into making knives, such a set-up would be very good for forging out the blades.  You really don't need much of an anvil as long as it's firmly tied to the earth and doesn't jump around with every hit of the hammer.

Hey guys thanks a lot for all your input, really helps me out. I really like the uniqueness of it. I already have an old Peter wright with a decent horn and a 1" hardy hole but the face is almost un usable, so something like this would work well alongside it. I think I'll go take a look at it and if it rebounds nice I'll pick it up.