Need help dating a H-B. It's a 171 lbs anvil the serial number it hard to read but looks like 810051. Any help is appreciated 

Could the first "number" be an A or a stray mark?  HB serial number went to 250,00, then started over with Axx,xxx, up to around A57,000.

If you have A10051, it was made in 1918, according to AIA.   

Also, you should start a new question with inquiries like this, instead of piggy-backing onto someone elses thread.

 

Mode Note: Moved to a new thread.

New to forums sorry. Thanks for the info. I will take another look to see if I can get the number right. Just cleaned it up and the numbers are hard to read

7 minutes ago, William D. Cooper said:

Just cleaned it up and the numbers are hard to read

Shining a low-angle light across the surface will help. Turn off the flash on your camera, too. Some people do a light dusting with chalk or flour to show up faint markings, too.

New to forums guy so be patient with me. I just got a hay budden anvil it's 171lbs and I thought the serial number was 810051. 

I posted first on another thread and got one answer saying the serial number should start with something like an A. 

Other serial numbers I have seen people ask about didn't start with letters. I a bit confused. Any help is really appreciated. 

Thanks

threads merged since its the same anvil

Will give it a try thanks

As was mentioned in that other thread: when HB ran out of numbers they wanted to use for serials,  they restarted using a leading A; other companies didn't do it this way: many didn't even put a serial number on them and few of them produced as many anvils as HB did.

So if the number you reported for a serial number exceeded the maximum number HB used then the leading character must be either an A or some other non-serial number stamping that you are interpreting as part of the serial number.

Think of it as license plates in the USA: each state has their own way of making them and if you report a license number that doesn't match the way that state does them then there is an issue with the number you provided.

I've only owned two Hay Buddens, and am not an expert on them, but have a thought or two.  Can you post pictures?   A good picture of the serial number (might have to play around with a flashlight and angles) and both sides?  I ask about the sides because HB changed their design around 1908 and the later anvils usually have a clear weld line where the solid steel top half starts and some sort of heat treat numbers on the side opposite the logo.  That would at least narrow things down a bit if it eliminates everything before or after the change.

Here's a pic of a Lakeside stamped Hay Budden (1913 is what the book says) with the weld line visible, and the numbers for the steel heat treat visible.