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anvil collection


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There are at least 10 major collectors in the US.  Fisher & Norris Factory Museum, Lee Lyles HorseShoers Museum, and many more private collections not generally open to the public.  This picture is from the Fisher Museum, grouping of 20/30/40 lb Fisher anvils.

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There is one private collection here in New Mexico; last time I visited it he had over 600 anvils plus post vises, swageblocks, some powerhammers, etc.  He doesn't smith though. I don't believe he is on the net.  The first year he attended Quad-State he bought 30 anvils and a trailer to get them the 1500 miles back home!

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22 hours ago, John in Oly, WA said:

Oh, you anvil hoarders! No wonder it's so hard to find any! :D

I am not sure your statement is serious or not....but if it is, why the negative comment at all on a thread called "anvil collections".   Anvils are everywhere.  Just find the $$ and time to do the legwork to find one.    If your statement is a joke, please note that some of us take our time and collections very seriously and do not appreciate having to do these comments over and over.  End of rant...

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I've visited @njanvilman's museum in New Jersey and found it mind-blowing and enormously educational. I for one am grateful that he has the time, money, and inclination to dedicate to assembling, curating, and making his collection available to the public. 

I can also understand the frustration of someone who might not have the time and money to dedicate to finding quality anvils (someone just starting out on a limited budget while working full-time, for example), especially when collectors' willingness to pay premium prices tends to reduce the supply of old anvils in circulation and to increase the price of those remaining (even the ones that are not collectible or of museum quality).

However, given the relative ease with which one can fashion a non-London-pattern anvil from any convenient hunk of steel (as we have seen many times here on IFI) and also given the availability of high-quality NEW anvils, the investment of time, money and legwork in sourcing an antique anvil really is not a necessity for getting started in blacksmithing. 

All that said, I suspect that @John in Oly, WA was not (entirely) serious in his post about anvil hoarders -- the little laughing face is a bit of a give-away.

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Greetings John in WA,

         It would be great if a truck went by your house and an anvil fell of in your driveway so you wouldn't have to look so hard. I know for a fact that Josh has driven thousands of miles and to great expense to add to his collection. I also have more than my share but guys like us  started many years ago when anvils were considered scrap . You should be thankful we had the forethought to preserve the prcious iron.  

Forge on and make beautiful things 

Jim

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I don't know anybody old enough to have been around when anvils were considered scrap; however for around 50 years the going rate was about US$1 a pound and some of the old timers remember that. (considerably higher than scrap rate!)  Now a lot of anvils have been scrapped; but that is more due to folks not realizing how to sell them.

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I believe being as that they're still being made new every day there is no shortage being created by people collecting. Those who want one to use go ahead and buy one new. You'd probably get a better deal anyway.

For those who just positively have to have one not being made anymore, they're still out there and pretty plentiful. If the "hoarders" annoy you that much, have patience. They'll all eventually die and their next of kin will be more than happy to scatter their stuff out into circulation again.

George

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Those collecting for educational purposes are doing a real solid to the community in my opinion, it's the true hoarders who get my goat. A friend of mine's dad has a real beauty of an old anvil in his shop. When I asked about it he told me he hasn't used it in a great many years and likely never will, even went so far as to complain about whacking his shin on it at one point. I offered to buy it, was quickly told no. His son asked if he could have it, he's somewhat interested in smithing, he was told he could forge there if he really wanted it. then went on to say the shop wouldnt look the same without it, and that it was a great conversation piece. Nothing I'm fuming over but a bit silly all the same.

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I wouldn't call that "hoarding", @Charcold. More like not letting go of something with sentimental value.

Hoarding would be if Josh bought every single anvil in sight, piled them up in his barn in a big unmanageable pile, and never let anyone else in, instead of curating them intelligently and making the museum (land his not inconsiderable knowledge) available to anyone who stops by and asks nicely.

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Yesterday at the R&T show, I bought one anvil, and passed on 12 more.  Lots of iron out there.   I wish I could buy more, but all of my collection has been funded out of my own pocket.  The few t shirts I sell just barely cover the electric bill.  I am not a non profit, I am a no profit.

 

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On 8/17/2017 at 8:09 PM, JHCC said:

I wouldn't call that "hoarding", @Charcold. More like not letting go of something with sentimental value.

eh. i probably did a poor job of explaining the situation. it's not a family heirloom or even a sentimental item. he got it in his head that it's worth thousands of dollars. its a hefty anvil, i'd guess 250 lbs or so. but it's got a scarred face from rough work. he picked the thing up in the 80s or so and never smithed. just used it for a cutting surface. i did a poor job of conveying that when he said "the shop wouldnt look the same without it" he was being short with me to shut down the conversation. when i first saw it I offered to weigh it then pay a fair price, between 2-3$ a pound depending on what kind of rebound it had. This was before I got my current anvil. And he was put off instantly, told me that he sees craigslist anvils go for 5-6$ a pound all day. I can only assume he was referencing the same 10 anvils on our local CL that haven't sold in a year or so at that inflated price. 

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  • 6 months later...
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A collector that buys anything worth collecting for the sole purpose of possessing it and show it, rather than using it for it's intended purpose, clearly makes the item go up in price. That is undeniable. Take an old Coca Cola sign. Why is it worth $3000? Coca Cola does not want it anymore. 

If such activity is reprehensible or not is a matter of opinion and the fact that anvil collectors push the price up may be one factor. To me, collectors are a fact of life and they play a role in the market of any collectable object. i would like to buy a K6 Hispano-Suiza but collectors keep me away from it. in the case of anvils, I know we have a collector in Perth somewhere that has hundreds of them and advertises regularly at astronomical prices. last time I checked it was $10 a pound. Good luck to him. I think he imports them from England. 

Plenty of fish in the sea I say. Keep on looking you will find what you want soon enough. Let others be. 

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At least collectors usually look after their stuff. What irks me is a fine Peter Wright anvil sitting on a stump in a garden with petunias growing through the hardy hole. :angry:

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Petunias .... So it is not pecuniary interest just petuniary :)

I would like to see somthing like that. Offer to make a concrete replica in exchange for it and the selling point "it does not rust" :P

K6 Hispano Suiza hood ornament

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